Nashville Electric Service hires fleet of consultants following ice storm
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The embattled Nashville Electric Service bulked up its lobbying and crisis communications roster in the aftermath of last month's ice storm.
Why it matters: NES sought to increase its political clout following a surge of criticism over the power utility's storm response.
Driving the news: Republican lawmakers, including House Speaker Cameron Sexton, bashed NES's communication and lengthy power restoration timeline following the storm.
What they're saying: An NES spokesperson told Axios in a statement that the team of consultants was hired after the utility "had numerous inquiries and requests for information from state and local government" following the storm.
- "Additional support ensures our staff stays focused on powering Nashville and improving our performance, without slowing down critical information to our customers and public officials," the spokesperson said.
Zoom in: NES hired Stones River Group, led by former Gov. Bill Haslam's chief of staff Mark Cate, as a consultant.
- The Stones River contract is for four months and totals $110,000.
- To help with Metro government lobbying, NES hired Hall Strategies, which is led by prominent local lobbyist and communications executive Joe Hall. The firm's six-month contract totals $30,000.
NES also hired Benchmark Communications to help with "short-term emergency communications support" in the early days of the storm. Benchmark will be paid on an invoice basis, because a "longer-term contract was not required," an NES spokesperson tells Axios.
Zoom out: Prior to the storm, NES had established a contract with Finn Partners, one of the city's largest public relations firms.
- Finn's three-year contract has a maximum value of $10 million. So far, Finn has billed $4.7 million, NES said.
- The firm provided winter storm-related communications support for free, according to NES.
- Similarly, the firm BHA — owned by Blake Harris, who previously worked as chief of staff for Gov. Bill Lee — gave pro bono crisis communications support during "the back half of the storm response," according to NES.