Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) is gunning for the Nashville Electric Service (NES) as thousands of Nashville residents remain without power — more than a week after Winter Storm Fern wreaked havoc on the area — and some may not see their power restored for another ten days.
Blackburn argued that NES had spent more time focusing on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives than on the kind of preparation that could have helped them manage a massive winter storm more efficiently.
&#8220;The Nashville Electric Service held 102 DEI-related training sessions by the end of 2024. They should’ve been using those resources to trim trees and bury utilities. This is what happens when companies put woke politics over the needs of the people they serve,&#8221; she <a href="https://x.com/MarshaBlackburn/status/2018009739926605839">posted</a> on Sunday.
Blackburn also sent a letter directly to NES demanding answers regarding the still unfolding situation in her home state — as well as a detailed plan explaining how the company planned to prevent anything similar from happening again.
&#8220;The failure to adequately prepare for Winter Storm Fern is precisely the reason line crews are working overtime and citizens are clearing limbs and debris at great risk to their own safety to help friends and neighbors,&#8221; Blackburn wrote in the letter. &#8220;This disruption (crew members in the field) are working to correct reflects a failure of leadership and planning, one that could have been mitigated with thoughtful preparation ahead of the storm. You owe your customers transparency, accountability, and a clear explanation of how this breakdown occurred and how you will prevent this from happening in the future.&#8221;
Blackburn gave NES a deadline of February 2 and laid out six key questions she wanted addressed. She posted the letter itself on X, adding, &#8220;By failing to properly prepare for Winter Storm Fern, @NESpower put Tennesseans in harm’s way. NES owes its customers transparency, accountability, and a clear explanation for why thousands of people remain without power. I’m demanding answers to ensure this can’t happen again.&#8221;
<ol>
<li>&#8220;According to reporting by The Tennessean, experienced linemen offered to aid with storm recovery, but Nashville Electric Service declined the offer, stating it already had sufficient resources. Why did NES turn down that offer for additional personnel during a widespread outage of this magnitude?&#8221;</li>
<li>&#8220;Given the lessons learned from past devastating storms, such as Nashville’s 1994 ice storm, why was NES not adequately prepared for Winter Storm Fern, despite ample warning and clear historical precedent?&#8221;</li>
<li>&#8220;Forecasts warned days in advance that this would be a generational severe weather event. Why were recovery operations and service restoration plans not fully prepared and mobilized ahead of time?&#8221;</li>
<li>&#8220;Why has there been such inconsistency in power restoration updates, with many customers being told their power has been restored when it has not, particularly given NES’s acknowledgment that it recently implemented a new outage notification and tracking system?&#8221;</li>
<li>&#8220;Residents in some areas have been told they may be without power for up to two weeks. How does NES consider that timeline acceptable, especially for residents who rely on electricity for life-sustaining medical equipment and other critical needs?&#8221;</li>
<li>&#8220;Due to extended outages, many residents had no choice but to seek temporary lodging. Will NES be reimbursing customers for expenses incurred during this period?&#8221;</li>
</ol>
NES responded to Blackburn&#8217;s letter on Saturday, and the Tennessee Senator posted that letter as well — and said that their answers were not good enough.
&#8220;@NESPower&#8217;s response to my letter is entirely insufficient. The company refused to take any accountability and is forcing Tennesseans to wait another week for full restoration of power. This is unacceptable. Whoever is responsible for this breakdown should be fired,&#8221; she said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/NESpower?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NESpower</a>’s response to my letter is entirely insufficient. The company refused to take any accountability and is forcing Tennesseans to wait another week for full restoration of power.
This is unacceptable. Whoever is responsible for this breakdown should be fired. <a href="https://t.co/ptaDtZC9mi">pic.twitter.com/ptaDtZC9mi</a>
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarshaBlackburn/status/2017996925975609468?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 1, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
In the letter, NES explained that half of the people in their entire service area (about 230,000) had lost power when the storm first hit, and that power had been restored to all but 44,000 of them. The remaining homes without power, NES assured Blackburn, would be back online within another week.
But some individual cases may prove to be more difficult, as one local investigative reporter described a situation currently affecting a viewer who had written him: &#8220;Wow! From viewer regarding Nashville Electric Service issue: &#8216;We can’t report an outage at a single residence after others around us have been restored. We report it, and the system immediately responds that it has been restored. Neighbors have power, but we have not due to a line down in the back yard. If it doesn’t stay on the NES list as needing repair, we may never get power restored. We have been in our house for 6+ days without power, like the rest of Nashville. It’s 38-40 degrees in the house. We run a generator intermittently, and we are doing better than most. But to not be able to reliably report an outage is absurd.'&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Wow! From viewer regarding Nashville Electric Service issue: “We can’t report an outage at a single residence after others around us have been restored. We report it, and the system immediately responds that it has been restored. Neighbors have power, but we have not due to a… <a href="https://t.co/bH9E6k7JLm">pic.twitter.com/bH9E6k7JLm</a>
— Phil Williams (@PhilNvestigates) <a href="https://twitter.com/PhilNvestigates/status/2017399479444365402?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 31, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Blackburn made it clear on Sunday that she was frustrated with the leadership at NES, not the rank and file employees.
&#8220;The linemen who are on the ground making repairs and working in the frigid temperatures to restore power are the unsung heroes of the response to this horrible winter storm. So grateful for these men and women,&#8221; she said.

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U.S. electric grid operators on Saturday stepped up precautions to avoid rotating blackouts as frigid weather hitting half of the country&#8217;s population stressed their operations.
The PJM Interconnection &#8211; the largest U.S. regional grid that serves 67 million people in the East and Mid-Atlantic &#8211; reported temporary spikes in spot wholesale electricity prices that soared above $3,000 per megawatt hour on Saturday morning from earlier levels of less than $200 per MWh.
Older power plants, typically idled much of the year, are coming online to take advantage of the elevated prices to serve higher than expected demand, said Georg Rute, CEO of grid software company Gridraven, and an expert on how weather affects power line capacity.
&#8220;A 40-year-old gas turbine switches on because it sees these super-high prices,&#8221; Rute told Reuters. He added it is a sign of stress in the PJM system and elsewhere.
Prices also soared in other regions as stormy weather and temperatures hovering around 0 degrees Fahrenheit (-18 Celsius) pushed up electricity demand and prompted some operators to shut in natural gas production in key basins, while grid companies also faced constraints on gas pipeline supply.
Dominion Energy, whose Virginia operations include the largest collection of data centers in the world, said if its ice forecast holds, it has the potential to be one of the largest winter events to affect the utility&#8217;s operations.
While regional grid operators juggle restricted fuel supplies, congested transmission lines and wild weather, electric utilities are staging crews to repair expected ice and snow damage on low-voltage distribution lines that bring power to homes and businesses.
Faced with constricted gas supplies, regional U.S. grid operators are asking coal and gas-fired power plants to boost output, according to grid operations reports.
The Midcontinent Independent System Operator called on power plants to maximize output and curtailed electricity exports in a territory that stretches across 15 states in the Midwest and South and Manitoba, Canada.
Over the past 24 hours, MISO imported up to several thousand megawatts of power from PJM&#8217;s territory to meet demand, according to MISO&#8217;s operations reports.
PJM faces greater reliability threats in winter because natural gas plants &#8211; the backbone of its generation &#8211; frequently face fuel supply constraints and mechanical freezing during extreme cold, according to analysts at consulting firm ICF International.
Neighboring grid MISO issued an all-hands-on-deck emergency action designed to avoid capacity shortfalls as some power plants are forced offline or reduce their output because of freezing temperatures, alerting utilities to be prepared to produce as much electricity as possible.
MISO spot wholesale electricity prices soared to nearly $500 per MWh in MISO&#8217;s Minnesota hub, as the upper Midwest experienced transmission bottlenecks across high-voltage power lines. By contrast, spot electricity prices in MISO&#8217;s southern territory were less than $50 per MWh.
In New England, fuel oil generation kicked into high gear to help the six-state region&#8217;s electric grid conserve natural gas, its top fuel source.
Early Saturday, oil-fired generation accounted for 35% of the New England grid&#8217;s output, compared with a typical level of about 1% or less, ISO New England&#8217;s operations display showed. Natural gas, usually the grid&#8217;s main fuel source, accounted for 22% of the grid&#8217;s generation output.
New England spot electricity prices were more than $300 per MWh, or about double the price on Friday.
For the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the winter storm is the biggest test for the state&#8217;s main grid operator since 2021, when a storm nearly caused a catastrophic regional blackout.
More than 200 people died as ERCOT lost about half of its generation capacity amid frigid weather.
Since then, stricter state and federal rules have been implemented to require better winter readiness by utilities and grid operators throughout the country.
Rute said ERCOT appears to be in good shape as it has abundant fossil-fuel generation, big contributions from wind and solar power, and more battery storage than any other grid.
&#8220;I think there&#8217;s very little chance of a (2021) rerun,&#8221; he said. &#8220;But no blackout happens the same way twice.&#8221;
(Reporting by Tim McLaughlin; Editing by Jan Harvey, Liz Hampton, Rod Nickel)

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In the debate over energy policy, the term &#8220;all of the above&#8221; has been heralded as a balanced, pragmatic strategy. But in reality, this approach is little more than a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) framework for energy — one that prioritizes political considerations over performance and efficiency. Just as DEI hiring initiatives emphasize inclusivity over merit-based selection, the &#8220;all of the above&#8221; energy policy forces taxpayers and ratepayers to subsidize inefficient energy sources under the guise of fairness and diversity in energy production.
This misguided philosophy has led to the proliferation of heavily subsidized and unreliable power generation, such as wind and solar, which fail to deliver power when it is needed most. These sources are not chosen based on their ability to provide cheap, reliable energy but rather on their alignment with politically driven mandates and green ideology. Despite the rhetoric of energy independence, the reality is that the expansion of these energy sources has increased our dependence on China for critical materials while simultaneously driving up electricity prices for American consumers. Ironically, while the U.S. is shackling its energy sector with expensive and inefficient mandates, China continues to dominate global energy markets by producing affordable power — largely fueled by coal.
The issue is not just limited to electricity generation. Biofuels, another beneficiary of the &#8220;all of the above&#8221; approach, serve as a prime example of government inefficiency. These fuels make gasoline and diesel more expensive, harm engine performance, and require massive amounts of water to produce. Rather than being an environmentally friendly alternative, biofuels epitomize waste — consuming resources and taxpayer dollars for minimal benefit.
Proponents of tax credits and subsidies argue that they create &#8220;good-paying jobs,&#8221; but this justification rings hollow. The same could be said of nearly any government-funded initiative, including federal bureaucracies that are now being exposed by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) for being inefficient and wasteful. Of course, by this logic, one could also argue that funding for male circumcision programs in Mozambique created &#8220;good-paying jobs&#8221; as well — just not ones that benefit the American workforce. President Trump highlighted this as an example of what he considers &#8220;appalling waste&#8221; in government spending, and yet the same defenders of bloated federal budgets will insist that all taxpayer-funded jobs are inherently valuable. Just because an industry is artificially propped up by government incentives does not mean it is economically viable. True job creation comes from industries that thrive on their own merits — not those that rely on perpetual government handouts.
A recent letter from members of Congress underscores this flawed thinking. It claims that tax credits are essential for energy affordability and national security, yet it ignores the fact that these subsidies distort markets and drive up costs. The argument that these tax incentives were promised for a ten-year period, and therefore should remain untouched, is nothing more than an attempt to lock in bad policy. If a program is wasteful and inefficient, it should be ended — regardless of previous commitments to corporate beneficiaries. The idea that repealing subsidies would cause an energy crisis is a scare tactic used to protect special interests rather than consumers.
True energy dominance does not come from a politically constructed mix of energy sources dictated by government planners. It comes from an energy sector that is free to compete based on cost, efficiency, and reliability. The &#8220;all of the above&#8221; approach is not a strategy — it is a crutch for failing energy policies that depend on taxpayer support to survive. If we are serious about unleashing American energy, we must reject this DEI-style approach and allow the best energy sources to rise based on merit — not mandates.
* * *
The Honorable Jason Isaac is the Founder and CEO of the American Energy Institute, a trade organization that unapologetically champions free markets and American energy. Previously, he served four terms in the Texas House of Representatives.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Daily Wire.
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After the terrorist group Hamas ignored a Saturday deadline from Israel to release more of the 59 hostages they hold, Israel said on Sunday it would cut off supplying electricity to Gaza.
Doron Arbely, chairman of the Israel Electric Corporation, <a href="https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/405136" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a>, “Today there is no electricity line leading from Israel into Gaza, and we are not responsible for the electricity network there at all. Most of the electricity supplied to Gaza is from solar panels and generators.”
“We will use all the means at our disposal to ensure that all the hostages return, and I hope that Hamas will not be in Gaza the day after,” Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/israel-to-cut-electricity-in-gaza-immediately-energy-minister-says/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stated</a> on Sunday, adding on <a href="https://x.com/elicoh1/status/1898756463222260177" target="_blank" rel="noopener">X</a>, “I have now signed an order to cut off electricity to the Gaza Strip immediately. Enough with the talk, it&#8217;s time for action!”
Twenty-four of the hostages Hamas is holding from their murderous October 7, 2023 massacre of more than 1200 Israelis are believed to be still alive.
For decades, Israel has abided by its agreement in the Oslo Accords to supply five million cubic meters of water to Gaza annually.
“Israel built two desalination plants in Gaza,” Stand With Us has <a href="https://www.standwithus.com/factsheet-waterfactsintheconflict" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pointed out</a>. “When Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, it gave the entire water system it had developed for Israeli settlements to the Palestinians, including 25 wells, storage reservoirs, and a well-developed transmission system. Despite aggression by the terrorist organization Hamas, Israel began treating sewage from Gaza in 2017 after the territory&#8217;s treatment facility was shut down.”
Last week, President Donald Trump made it clear where he stands vis-à-vis Hamas, writing on <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114112015891353323" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Truth Social</a>:
<blockquote>“Shalom Hamas” means Hello and Goodbye &#8211; You can choose. Release all of the Hostages now, not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered, or it is OVER for you. Only sick and twisted people keep bodies, and you are sick and twisted! I am sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job, not a single Hamas member will be safe if you don&#8217;t do as I say. I have just met with your former Hostages whose lives you have destroyed. This is your last warning! For the leadership, now is the time to leave Gaza, while you still have a chance. Also, to the People of Gaza: A beautiful Future awaits, but not if you hold Hostages. If you do, you are DEAD! Make a SMART decision. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW, OR THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY LATER!</blockquote>

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Tennessee Senator Declares War On ‘Woke’ Nashville Power Company After Week-Long Outage

Frigid Weather Stresses U.S. Electric Grid

Why ‘All Of The Above’ Energy Policies Fail

Hamas Ignores Deadline To Release Hostages, Israel Cuts Off Electricity To Gaza