Nashville Electric Service needs to do more for residents still suffering from COVID-19 pandemic | Opinion

According to public data received from the Nashville Electric Service (NES), there were over 12,656 people who had their electricity shut off in last November alone. In October, that number was 10,372.

The number of disconnections for almost all other months since NES lifted its ban on electricity shut offs last November are just as high, at an average of nearly 9,500 shut offs per month.

In addition, tens of thousands of shut off notices have been served each month, at an average of 47,650 since October 2020. That means that there are tens of thousands of people who are consistently at-risk of losing access to an essential, basic utility during a global pandemic.

Despite these figures, NES officials claim that they are doing all that they can to help their customers during the pandemic.

According to an email we received from NES customer service representatives, the company had distributed tens of millions of dollars in aid to Nashvillians, which it has received mostly from the Tennessee Valley Authority since the start of the pandemic in 2020. $6.7 million was made available through the Community Care Fund in May 2020 to help needy customers, and $140,000 of this aid money remained as of this summer.

This money is distributed through NeedLink, which connects needy customers to applications for aid. In addition, 12 month payment programs were set up in response to the pandemic to relieve pressure by providing extensions on payments, late fees, and shut off timelines.

In August 2020, NES received a further $18.3 million from the TVA to bolster more aid programs. $6 million of this money went again into NeedLink programs, and the remaining $12.3 million was distributed via monthly bill credits. Last, NES also enacted a ban on all utility shut offs from March to November 2020, as well as another ban for the month of January, 2021, giving temporary assurance to Nashvillians that they would not lose access to this essential utility no matter their financial status.

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Congratulating themselves on a “job well done”

At the September 22 NES Board Meeting, board members listened to the results of a customer care survey which seemed to confirm their feelings of accomplishment. Of those customers who had opted-in to the survey, it reported, a majority were happy with the way the company had handled the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the finances committee reported excellent revenue rates, with NES raking in millions more this past summer than expected. At the Meeting, NES members had a lot to feel good about, and the fact that tens of thousands of Nashvillians have been or were at risk of shut offs was far from their minds.

NES has organized millions in aid to its customers during the pandemic. But, there is a key question that NES board members and officials simply do not seem to be asking themselves--Is it enough? If they are doing such a good job at responding to the pandemic, then why are tens of thousands of shut offs still happening each month during a deadly pandemic?

In other words, do NES board members think that it is normal for tens of thousands of people in Nashville to go without the ability to charge their phones, connect to the internet, heat or cool their food and their homes, and to keep their lights on? Right now, it sure looks that way.

NES has the power, but will they act?

NES clearly has the lines of aid and revenue streams to ban all shut offs right now (an action that they have taken twice in the past two years), but they will not do it. Why? They apparently do not see a problem with people in the wealthiest country in the history of the world living without power. They do not see a problem with punishing those who are already struggling by denying them the ability to live in basic decency. We are talking about keeping lights on here.

It is not a question of money.

It is a question of the willpower of our officials and whether they will do the right thing, which is to take the simple but effective step against poverty and human misery that dozens of other cities and states in the US have already taken.

NES, we are asking you to permanently #StoptheShutoffs and to use your TVA money and revenue streams to cancel all debts. These are dark times, but that does not mean that people should be forced to literally live in the dark.

NES needs to act. Now, and we’re organizing to ensure that they do so.

Nick Goodell is a member of Stop the Shutoffs Committee.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: NES has the power to aid residents suffering financially from the pandemic. Why haven't they?