Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Utility Governance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commissioner proposes asking state to give counties seats on NES board after outage problems
Summary
A commissioner proposed filing a resolution asking the county commission to request that the state legislature amend statute so counties served by NES have representation on its board; staff will research draft language and aim to present a resolution next week.
A Williamson County commissioner (Speaker 4) told the public policy committee the county should ask the state legislature to amend statute so all counties served by NES would have a seat on its governing board, rather than the board being appointed solely by the Metro Nashville mayor.
Speaker 4 framed the proposal as a response to problems during a recent ice storm and said counties including Williamson, Sumner, Cheatham and Robertson are customers of the utility and lack representation on the board. "We're paying the... electric bills... and our rates are being decided, and we have... it's basically kind of a taxation without representation," Speaker 4 said.
Committee members and staff asked about regulatory oversight; Speaker 3 raised TDEC and other entities, and Speaker 6 offered to research proposed statutory language and report back quickly. Speaker 4 asked for the resolution to be prepared for consideration by the full commission at the next meeting; staff agreed to prioritize work on draft language.
The committee expressed general support for pursuing the matter; no formal resolution was lodged or voted on during this meeting, and the transcript does not record final action beyond agreement to draft and circulate proposed language.
