MLGW data shows that customers in large sections of North Memphis and South Memphis see significantly more power interruptions than other parts of Memphis.
Memphis has significant disparities in what parts of the city see the most power interruptions, according to data released by Memphis Light, Gas and Water this week.
A map showing customer minutes interrupted by ZIP code was released by utility officials this week, at the request of Councilman Martavius Jones.
"It told the story. I was ashamed," said Memphis City Councilwoman Patrice Robinson, the chair of the council's MLGW committee, of the map.
The city's Southwest corner, parts of North Memphis and parts of Shelby County north of the city are more heavily affected than other parts of the city, with ZIP codes in those areas seeing from 5,784,661 to 9,020,820 total customer minutes interrupted, based on data from the four-year period from 2014 to 2018.
Whitehaven and Frayser are among the most heavily-affected areas.
The ZIP codes that saw the fewest power interruptions during that time period had between 69,960 and 1,519,200 total customer minutes interrupted, according to MLGW data.
"We've turned a blind eye on some of the constituents," Robinson said in a Wednesday interview. "These are areas with older infrastructure and we need to do more investment there. They're also probably some of the poorest people."
In some of the hardest-hit areas of the city, homes need to be weatherized, and the share of income residents put toward their utility bills is "higher than it should be," Robinson said. "And then we turn around and say we're not going to fix it."
The map's release comes a month after the city council voted down phased utility rate increases, aimed at funding what have been characterized as badly-needed infrastructure upgrades.
Robinson and Jones were among the council members who voted for MLGW's rate increase plan that didn't pass.
“This is who we told ‘no’ to,” Jones said.
When council members were mulling the rate increase proposal and five-year plan, MLGW President J.T. Young told them that continuing to put off infrastructure upgrades could mean more expensive fixes and longer and more frequent power outages.
Some of the council members who voted the plan down contended they did so because their constituents can't afford higher utility bills.
The infrastructure upgrades over the five years in the plan Young proposed would have been roughly $740 million in new investment, he said.
A series of studies have recently been released that say MLGW could save hundreds of millions of dollars by pursuing an alternative to its current agreement to purchase power from the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland is calling for a "very public" discussion about those studies.
Strickland said Wednesday he hopes a process for a public vetting of those studies' findings can be announced at the next City Council meeting, he said.
The council's next meeting is April 2.
Meanwhile, some council members, including Robinson, are traveling to Chattanooga next week to meet with TVA.
"I know it’s not as easy as unplugging from TVA and plugging into somebody else. It’s a very complicated issue," Strickland said. "And we may end up wanting to stay with TVA. They’ve been a good partner. But we need to have a very open and frank discussion in public about those issues to get the whole community engaged in this process."