MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Mother Nature's latest round of weather is giving more energy to one grassroots group, still upset about lengthy MLGW power outages earlier this month.
Thousands of customers were without power for almost two weeks - and many took to the website Nextdoor to band together to hold the utility accountable.
Wednesday, they get their first chance to get answers from MLGW leaders.
"The more voices from the community the better. I think the majority of us, we are all on the same page," Ray Bauer said Tuesday, while the group brainstormed ideas on a virtual call.
"Going forward, the bigger the group, the more strength we have, the more spotlight we can continue to shine," Bauer added.
For founding member Bauer, her frustrations weren't just the highly criticized outages, which left more than half of all MLGW customers powerless at some point.
It was something bigger, as she compared the area's lengthy outages compared to other states in the U.S.
"First it was Texas. It was us. It was, you know, West Virginia, Kentucky, all the way up. But by the second day it was just us. By the third day it was just us. And then for the rest of the week it was just us and I kept saying, can't we be better?" asked Bauer.
The group not only wants to keep the pressure on MLGW to provide reliable electricity, but also make sure the utility keeps its promise on other promised improvements following the ice storm.
That includes improving customer service and providing more accurate timeframes on outages.
"We need to educate our citizens on how things work," Glenda Hicks said.
The Nextdoor group's mission is especially personal for Hicks, a retired MLGW worker with 20 years of service.
"I know the issues that I had in trying to push for change, and it's like your voice was not heard," Hicks added.
Wednesday evening, from 6 to 7 p.m., MLGW will hold a virtual town hall with customers.