Nashville Electric Service officials appeared before two Metro Nashville Council committees Monday to defend a $47 million no-bid contract to upgrade the city’s street lights to LED fixtures.

Antonio Carroll, an attorney with Nashville Electric Service (NES), told Metro Council members state law allows the utility provider to use a professional services exemption when choosing a street light contractor. …

But by not soliciting other offers, Nashville will spend more money and the project is estimated to take longer to complete compared to cities like Memphis and Philadelphia, which signed similar street light conversion deals in 2022.

The final NES cost is roughly $851 per light replacement. In contrast, a similar project undertaken by Memphis’ utility provider last year will cost it $608 per fixture, 29% less than what NES is paying.