NES Promises a Stronger Grid for Old Hickory Village

After a year of flickering lights (some neighbors count at least 14 outages in 10 months), Old Hickory Village residents filled the Old Hickory Community Center on Tuesday, Nov. 10, to ask Nashville Electric Service what comes next.

Three NES representatives said the long-term fix is a full upgrade. The Village's aging 4-kilovolt system will be replaced with a 23.9-kilovolt system, including new poles, transformers, primary lines and service conductors. NES plans to spend the next six months designing the project. Construction would start after July 1, 2027, the beginning of the utility's next fiscal year, and crews would convert one circuit at a time.

In the meantime, line crews will clear vegetation and dead vines from poles. NES pointed to the January ice storm and later storms as the reasons the system has been under so much stress this year.

“I don't think tonight's the end. I think tonight is really the beginning,” said Metro Councilmember Jeff Eslick.

Residents thanked NES for showing up but made one thing clear: they want better communication, both during outages and throughout the upgrade. The Citizen will follow the project and share updates as NES releases its plans.

Source: WSMV

Photo: Old Hickory power house, photograph by John A. Dick, approximately 1918, Old Hickory DuPont Gunpowder Plant Photographs, accession 1991-243, XL1-C&D-1, ID# 43538. Courtesy Tennessee State Library & Archives.