NES Representation Bill Revived in the Tennessee Legislature

A bill to bring Williamson County representation to the Nashville Electric Service board has been revived after an earlier version died in a House Committee last week.

An amended version of HB2592 is sponsored by Rep. Clark Boyd (R-Lebanon). It would allow counties with more than 3,500 ratepayers — who are part of a municipally owned electric company, but don’t reside in that municipality — to have a seat on the company’s board. The county mayor would appoint the member through county commission approval.

The bill is similar in language to a previous bill sponsored by Rep. Boyd and Sen. Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-Franklin). That version died in committee last week over questions and concerns about how it could impact providers across the state.

The new bill passed Tuesday’s House State and Local Government Committee in a 12-9 vote and now moves on to the House Finance, Ways, and Means Committee.

The committee includes two Williamson County representatives — Jake McCalmon (R-Franklin), who voted in favor of the bill, and Todd Warner (R-Chapel Hill), who voted against the bill. Warner’s district covers a small portion of southern Williamson County.

“I’m just not much on expanding any government entity, whether electric or cities or any boards — anything,” Warner told the Williamson Scene. “I always think smaller boards are better.”

However, Rep. McCalmon said the recent ice storm caused tension that the community’s mind hasn’t forgotten. 

“I don't think the wounds have healed yet from the failures of NES,” McCalmon told the Williamson Scene.

Nashville Democrats Rep. Vincent Dixie and Rep. Bo Mitchell, both of whom voted against the bill, argued that the legislation is another attempt at a state takeover of a part of Nashville government. Boyd pushed back on that argument, noting that while the bill would allow for more seats on the board, it would retain a majority of seats for the provider’s home county.

“You don't act like a United States Senator and call up and say, ‘Get out here and turn on my lights,’” Mitchell said in a jab at Brentwood resident, Senator and Republican gubernatorial candidate Marsha Blackburn, who coordinated with NES CEO Teresa Broyles-Aplin for special treatment during the historic Ice Storm Fern.

“You take care of your neighbors, you take care of your constituents. You don't come to the state and try to add a board member less for your less than 1% [of NES customers,] because you don't deserve that, and you know you don't deserve that.”

Nashville representatives said they were frustrated that the bill was even back to begin with this week. 

“We killed this bill last week, and for you to bring it back is disingenuous,” Rep. Dixie said.

“This has statewide implications,” Dixie continued. “Nobody else statewide has been complaining about this until this happened. We had a hiccup, it happens, ou learn from you move on, but doesn’t mean that we have to change the way that we do business just because you don't like it.”

Boyd told the Williamson Scene on Tuesday that he worked to “clean up” some language he said led to a lack of support last week, adding that he’s confident he has the votes to pass the bill through the full House. He acknowledged that the bill will have to be reconciled with the Senate version, sponsored by Sen. Brent Taylor (R-Memphis), which hasn’t been scheduled to be debated at this time.

“I just want to give a voice to those rate payers, and they don't have a choice. It's not like they have two or three electrical options and they chose this one. It's the only option that they have, and right now, they don't have a seat on the board,” Boyd told the Williamson Scene.

NES services 10,866 customers in Williamson County, which makes up portions of Brentwood.

The Williamson County Commission and Brentwood City Commission both passed resolutions this month seeking representation, as the City of Brentwood reports that it collected more than 323,000 cubic yards of storm debris. Much of that was tree limbs, which were transported and ground into mulch in a week-long operation that closed Granny White Park.