DEI far from dead in Nashville, and it cost the city dearly: report

A power company that mishandled Winter Storm Fern had reportedly wasted its time prior to the storm obsessing over DEI.

When the storm slammed into Nashville in January, it was contingent on the Nashville Electric Service (NES) to keep the city powered. Unfortunately, NES failed to fully meet its obligations, allegedly because it’d failed to “adequately prepare” in advance.

Nashville Electric Service was pressed on how it’s handled the largest power outage in the city’s history as 72,000 crews are still without power Friday.

Investigative Reporter @KellyAvellino asked why other cities, even neighboring utility companies, appeared to have more crews… pic.twitter.com/xR3xv7Vym9

— FoxNashville (@FOXNashville) January 30, 2026

“[T]he 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,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn wrote in a letter to NES amid the storm.

“Many customers were falsely notified that their power had been restored due to failures in your automated notification system. After this issue was brought to the attention of NES, customers still were not provided with reliable information during an ongoing emergency, even as metro leaders requested a clear timeline for power restoration,” she added.

It has since been learned that NES had wasted an inordinate amount of time prior to the storm obsessing over so-called diversity, equity, and inclusion, also known as DEI.

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.

— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) February 1, 2026

Records reviewed by Daily Wire show that NES’ management was focused on training employees to recognize their “implicit bias” and maintain a “diverse friend group” that included gays.

In 2023, for example, employees were subjected to a training module called “Building a Culture of Trust.”

The objective of the training was to “identify and create a culture of trust” and to “identify implicit or unconscious bias to become more aware of the impact on coworkers and customers,” according to Daily Wire.

The training involved employees being asked whether they were “connected” to people of different races and sexual orientations. The training also alleged that a woman being fired for asking for time off for a gay “Pride” event constituted “implicit bias.”

The training further contained misandrist lies about the fake wage gap myth.

“Men are often seen as ‘providers’ for their families, many times receiving higher pay and opportunities for promotion,” one training slide said. “Women are not given the same opportunities, sometimes considered as inexperienced or unable to complete the same projects/tasks as men.”

.@NESpower was so focused on woke policies and DEI that it failed at its most basic responsibility: keeping the power on.

Despite ample warning, its failure to adequately prepare left thousands in the dark—it’s time for new leadership at NES. pic.twitter.com/ZKijWnWU4F

— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) February 3, 2026

A separate report filed by The Tennessee Star in late January noted that NES approved a six-month contract extension for a DEI consultant, Tony Williams, amid the devastation of Winter Storm Ferm.

The Star further reported that the company’s interest in DEI picked up steam after a woman, Teresa Broyles-Aplin, was named CEO in 2022.

Two years later, the radically left-wing Nashville Bar Association honored NES with an award for “set[ting] the standard of inclusion in the industry.”

“With nearly 1,000 employees from a range of cultures and professions − diversity, equity and inclusion are at the heart of NES’ operations and initiatives,” NES proudly announced in a press release at the time.

“On the employment level, NES champions diversity and provides opportunities at all levels, which is evident in its leadership and recruitment practices,” the press release continued.

We have to clean out NES here in Nashville. The power company has a monopoly. They have to serve everyone. Why in the hell does anyone at a power company need DEI training? (It’s garbage everywhere, but this company is legit obligated to serve all backgrounds). https://t.co/kh9pQdbiGW

— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) March 4, 2026

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