NOVEMBER 2005

Community Calendar

Planting With the Future in Mind

Of all seasons, this may be the one time of year when people stop and truly appreciate themagnificent beauty of trees. As their brilliant fall colors paint Nashville’s skyline, we feel movedto contribute to this inspiring landscape.

You can help too! Join volunteers on November 19 to ReLeaf Nashville. Together we’ll plant50 trees in the Dallas H. Neil Park on the corner of Wedgewood and Eighth Avenues and inthe Woodland-in-Waverly neighborhood.

Proper planting is crucial to the health and well-being of any tree. And, when it comes tonearby power lines, choosing the right kind of tree is key.

Nashville Tree Foundation president Betty Brown says, “If you plant the right species nearpower lines it means there will be little if any pruning needed during its lifetime. We haveeducational materials on hand describing the various species of trees and their maximumheights.”

“Someone’s sitting in theshade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”

Les Brown

Volunteers will plant a mixture of native trees and cultivars that will grow to a maximum heightof 20 feet. NES president Decosta Jenkins says, “Trees and power lines can co-exist togetherwithout drastic pruning. We just have to educate people about what to plant and where toplant it.”

Woodland-in-Waverly resident, Christopher Catanzaro says, “Neighborhoods like ours canenjoy beautiful ornamental trees and shrubs without interfering with utility lines. It’s just amatter of being smart when you plant.”

ReLeaf Nashville is a joint project between the Nashville Tree Foundation, Nashville ElectricService, Metro Tree Advisory Committee and Metro Parks.

Sign up to volunteer! Call 615-292-5175 or visit www.nashvilletreefoundation.org.Just think… this time next year, 50 new trees will display their autumn glory – and you canhave a part in it.

Christmas is right around the corner… So is the cold.Do you know someone who needs help paying their electric bills this winter? Make the warmthof your heart felt this holiday season. Give an NES energy gift certificate.

These certificates are available in $5 increments with a $25 minimum purchase. Call us at736-6900 or visit our main office at 1214 Church Street.

Light Up the NightShare the holiday spirit by decorating your home, and compete for bragging rightsin the 17th Annual Holiday Lights Competition.

The contest is sponsored by Mayor Bill Purcell, Metro Public Works, NashvilleElectric Service, Metro Beautification & Environment Commission andNewsChannel 5.

The deadline to enter is Friday, November 18. For more information, call862-8418. Contest rules and entry forms are available atwww.nashville.gov/beautification.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…

Celebrate the holidays at Gaylord Opryland’s A Country Christmas®,November 17 - January 8. Nashville Electric Service will flip the switchon nearly two million sparkling lights November 16 at the AnnualLighting Ceremony.

• Back by popular demand - the Radio City Christmas Spectacular®

starring the world-famous Radio City Rockettes™• Brave the frozen world of ICE!™ featuring larger-than-life sculptures

carved from 1.5 million pounds of ice• NEW this year - The Pam Tillis Christmas Dinner Party™ featuring a

traditional holiday meal and a performance by Grammy Award winner Pam Tillis

For more information, call 615-458-1600 or visit gaylordopryland.com.

Proudly presenting, Entertaining with Friends, the official cookbook of theVanderbilt Children’s Hospital. From cover to cover, this labor of love offersfavorite recipes from friends, neighbors and well-known chefs.

This perfect gift is available for just $44.25. Make checks payable toVanderbilt Children’s Hospital and mail to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital,Attn: Cookbook, P. O. Box 2504, Brentwood, TN 37024-2504. To orderonline, visit www.vanderbiltchildrens.com.

December 2 & 3 – The BlueCross Bowl, TSSAA Division I Football Championships, will be played atFloyd Stadium on the campus of MTSU in Murfreesboro. Tickets will only be sold on game day.

For more events, log onto our website at www.nespower.com. Click on the Community Calendar link under News & Events.

If Nashville Electric Service had a honeymoon period… it was certainly over by the1970s – a decade of changes for the local utility.

When NES was formed in 1939, citizens and politicians were delighted because NES’power rates were so much lower than its predecessor, the Tennessee Electric PowerCo. Through the 50s and 60s power rates remained fairly low, and people were stillenamored with the very idea that electricity was a reliable, non-polluting alternativeto coal. But by the 1970s, electricity had lost its newness and few peopleremembered the era when electricity was considered a miracle of science. They did,however, notice their electric bills going up.

NES rates were going up because TVA rates were going up. Contributing to theincrease was rising coal prices, TVA’s investment in nuclear power plants and pressurefrom the federal government to reduce pollution and cut down the nation’sdependence on foreign oil. NES rates were still far cheaper than what mostAmericans paid, but people in Nashville weren’t terribly interested in those details.

NES was criticized constantly because of the rising rates. Leading the charge was taxassessor Clifford Allen. The NES board argued that rates could not be loweredbecause of TVA’s increases and the need to pay for capital improvements. Theseimprovements included, for the very first time, the purchase of bucket trucks forlinemen crews.

That wasn’t a good enough answer for Allen and the city council. In 1976, councilmembers announced their support of a measure that would make NES a regulardepartment of city government. The proposal might have passed had Mayor RichardFulton not opposed it.

When NES was created Nashville was largely a coal using city. Promoting energyconsumption, practically without limits, was an obvious part of the NES culture foryears. But in the 1970s, Americans came face-to-face with the fact that power isnot unlimited.

For the first time ever, NES began emphasizing conservation over use. It happenedgradually. The focus of advertisements in newspapers and on the radio shifted. NES’Home Show, an event that had grown out of the electric shows of the 1950s, wasquietly discontinued. There were other changes. The local utility eliminated itsappliance repair division. It replaced home economists with home energy auditors –who point out ways to save energy, and in turn, save money. NES also begansubsidizing the installation of more home insulation for elderly customers.

Nashville Electric Service even had a strike during this turbulent decade. In January1976, the NES board voted to give employees a seven-percent pay raise.Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to keep up with inflation. Within a few weeks, over400 employees boycotted work and stayed home. It lasted eight days, and the issueswere eventually resolved. Thirty years have passed and NES has not had a strike since.

The Focus Changes in 1970sBy Bill Carey