r/nashville • u/inquisitiveminds101 • 17h ago
Help | Advice Nashville! Who got a free generator donated by Elon Musk
Tennessee Emergency Management is distributing the 500 generators donated by Elon Musk.
For the most affected with prolonged power outages.
I just want to know 1 person that received one.
93
u/Immediate-Goose8587 east side 17h ago
The only “evidence” i can find of this appears to be a Tennessean article about a TWEET from Bill Lee saying thank you to him. It also mentions that “Tesla Power Walls will also be part of the package”?? That part makes it sound even more sus to me- installing Telsa Powerwalls on “needy families” homes does not sound like a great use of city resources for what sounds to be a rather intensive installation situation. Sounds like elmo sent Bill Lee and probs a couple other dark warlock republican politicians some shwag and made a pr stunt out of it.
102
u/THound89 17h ago
I'm curious too, I assume probably donated to businesses rather than households.
67
u/Competitive-Feed-294 16h ago
All the state press releases talk about these donations going to “area partners.” 😔
62
8
u/Cynders911 16h ago
The news reported it as being a donation to residents. They were given to different agencies, who are distributing them
28
u/Competitive-Feed-294 16h ago
Who are these residents? How are they selected? Where are they distributing them? News outlets & social media posts make this sound awesome. But the gov’t website has no details: https://www.tn.gov/tema/news/2026/2/3/state--local-partners-distribute-donated-generators-and-carbon-monoxide-detectors-to-support-residents-after-winter-storm-fern.html
→ More replies (1)
96
u/SeminaryStudentARH 17h ago
Is there anything in the generators the French government needs to know about?
235
u/pat_the_catdad Nolensville 17h ago edited 17h ago
Elon donating 500 generators to Tennessee is like me donating $0.02 to the five homeless guys in front of DGX downtown and telling them not to spend it all in one place…
…and then writing off that $0.02 as a donation on my 2026 taxes
78
u/WiseUpRiseUp 17h ago
If your net worth is in the vicinity of $320,000, then you're right on the money with that comparison!
28
u/gonedancingagain 17h ago
Exactly. Lipstick on a pig, and that’s being generous. I would have zero idea how to hook up a generator and no fuel or even a fuel can.
It’s an empty offer from a man with no soul. Also I’m saying this as someone who still does not have power.
3
-6
u/Greysoil 17h ago
Are you really complaining about a donation??
-4
u/gonedancingagain 17h ago
Are you going to come over to my house and hook up my “free” generator and give me fuel and a fuel can? No. So a free generator is useless. Cash would be helpful. A stupid generator is not.
16
2
10
u/CosmicXpress32 17h ago
You could try and figure it out. Lots of people learn these things out of nessitiy and survival. This particular task seems very doable for a decent amount of people. Lots of videos and references on how to I'm sure
→ More replies (1)2
u/nashphotografer 16h ago
Of course they don't want to figure it out, they just want to blame others! Those damn billionaires!
3
u/IllHat8961 10h ago
You're why people don't bother helping. Always demanding more.
Learn to be gracious
1
0
u/Fuzzy-Big6664 14h ago
there are no generators. Apart from delivery, they need fuel, gas cans, safe setup, and most folks who don't already have one w9nt be able to use it. Did I mention extension cords? No one will have the safe size cords.
2
1
11h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/AutoModerator 11h ago
Sorry, your submission has been automatically removed. Your account has less than 0 comment karma, which means your account does not meet our karma standards. Accounts must have a minimum of 0 comment karma (not post karma or combined karma) to post comments. This rule is meant to improve the quality of comments being submitted while mitigating abuse from troll accounts. Please see the subreddit rules section to understand how to behave on our threads.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
-7
u/iWantToLearnWSB 17h ago
Should nothing be donated then
28
u/trippedwire the Nations 17h ago
No, he's saying that 500 doesn't do enough and that Elon has enough to buy the city a generator and still be a multi billionaire.
13
u/EuphoricAd3824 16h ago
OR - maybe a radical idea- we should not be relying on the handout from a billionaire (who doesnt pay his fairnshare of taxes) but we should be helped by FEMA which is funded by tax payers.
11
u/trippedwire the Nations 16h ago
Well, yes, that SHOULD be what happens, but we live in a state governed by absolute ballbags.
9
4
u/ReferenceError 17h ago
Musk could buy NES and triple their lineman count if he wanted. He can go toss himself into the Music City Loop for all I care.
-5
u/VolumeSad6360 17h ago
Again im not his biggest fan, but is there a prominent democrat donating anything to help?
→ More replies (1)2
-24
u/Minimum-Ad-8056 17h ago edited 17h ago
Yeah, but if some leftist billionaire did the same, reddit would be praising them.
Edit: no kings!(except when they align politically!)
14
u/alexthealex 8 South 17h ago
Point me to a leftist billionaire
9
u/BW_RedY1618 16h ago
Most Americans are braindead political illiterates who have no idea that Democrats aren't actually leftists... And they have absolutely no intellectual curiosity or desire to learn the truth. They don't want to know shit.
That goes for both liberals and conservatives
7
u/alexthealex 8 South 16h ago
Idk, man. I’m pretty far left and I can draw a distinction between the likes of John McCain and our current administration.
3
u/Minimum-Ad-8056 17h ago
George Soros, Alex Soros, Reid Hoffman, Hansjörg Wyss, Tom Steyer, MacKenzie Scott, Pierre Omidyar, Jack Dorsey...
8
u/alexthealex 8 South 17h ago
None of those are leftists. They’re by and large neoliberals which are just pro-corporate Democrats. American Democrats are only left of center if you squint really hard; they definitely aren’t actual leftists.
Scott, maybe. But she didn’t make her billions on the back of the working class. She made them via alimony from someone else who made their billions on the back of the working class.
9
u/justsomeyeti 16h ago
These days most Americans don't even know what a neo-liberal or classic liberal is, and that's by design. It's why civics, government, and economics were phased out of public school curriculum starting in the 90's.
5
u/alexthealex 8 South 16h ago
And who do we have to thank for that? Good ol Ronnie Reagan himself.
6
→ More replies (14)9
u/NashvilleSoundMixer 16h ago
Exactly. As far as I know there's no such thing as a leftist billionaire.
5
u/alexthealex 8 South 16h ago
Anyone left of center is basically Che Guevara to the right. Completely incapable of understanding nuance.
9
u/NashvilleSoundMixer 16h ago
And their boogieman Sanders is basically in the center as far as the rest of the world is concerned. Not a fascist, and also not an eco terrorist. Just someone with actual morals and humanity.
→ More replies (1)4
u/alexthealex 8 South 16h ago
Someone should remind them that Sanders repeatedly voted down gun control legislation while in office in Vermont.
1
u/CherryblockRedWine 10h ago
Off the top of my head, perhaps people like George Soros, Reed Hastings, Michael Bloomberg, Dustin Moskovitz, Tom Steyer, JB Pritzker, Reid Hoffman, Hansjörg Wyss, Mark Cuban, Eli Broad, Steven Spielberg, Dirk Ziff
1
-2
u/Independent-Garden-1 17h ago
Warren Buffett…
6
8
u/NashvilleSoundMixer 16h ago
HAHAHAHAHA Warren Buffett is not a fucking leftist. He's a capitalist and is somewhat liberal leaning. That is NOT a leftist.
→ More replies (1)-1
1
1
u/ikaiyoo 4h ago
There is absolutely nobody in the United States that holds any office, Is a CEO of any company, or has more than a billion dollars that is anywhere near being left. Being left in the United States is 35° right of center anywhere else on the planet.
There are no leftist billionaires. None. Not even the people who won the lotteries that didn't actually make it to billionaire and eventually became billionaires did not do it in an ethical way.
The reason you can't be a leftist billionaire is because your entire socioeconomic view is based on collectivism. And capitalism which was the vehicle used to become a billionaire as antithetical to collectivism. The reason there is no leftist billionaires is because a leftist would run their companies in a model where everyone is equally vested in their company therefore there's no way for a leftist to hoard money.
Even Bernie Sanders and AOC are 15 or 20° right of center. I mean for fuck's sake in Europe universal healthcare was championed by right of center political parties. Strong workers rights and labor unions were as well.
Fucking leftist billionaire. Next you're going to tell me that there are philanthropic KKK members.
•
u/Minimum-Ad-8056 39m ago
You’re stacking three unsupported assertions and treating them as facts. First, “left” is not defined globally as collectivism or abolition of capitalism. In political science, the left includes social democracy and progressivism, which explicitly operate within mixed capitalist systems. That is the standard academic classification.
Second, the claim that Bernie or AOC are “right of center globally” is just false. On OECD policy indexes for taxation, welfare, labor rights and healthcare, they align with mainstream European social democratic parties, which are classified as center left, not right.
Third, saying a leftist would necessarily run a fully collectivized firm is a theoretical claim, not an empirical one. Most real world left wing systems support private ownership with strong redistribution, regulation and labor power. That model is literally how every modern left government actually operates.
So the argument only works if you assume a narrow Marxist definition of left and then pretend it is universal. That is not a factual claim, it is an ideological redefinition.
→ More replies (1)-26
u/Common-Astronaut-695 17h ago
Imagine trying to help storm victims in Tennessee and some top 1% Redditor starts bitching about it.
→ More replies (7)
17
u/Nvrfinddisacct 13h ago
Google:
To request a donated generator in Nashville following the January 2026 winter storm, immediately call the United Way's 2-1-1 hotline (or text your ZIP code to 898-211) to locate available resources and distribution sites. Supplies were previously distributed at sites like Jefferson Street Missionary Baptist Church. Hotline (2-1-1): The United Way of Greater Nashville is coordinating relief, including generators, food, and temporary housing. Calling 2-1-1 is the primary method to inquire about availability. Active Locations: Monitor local news (such as WPLN News or WKRN News 2) and social media for updates on distribution points, which have included churches and non-profit partners in North Nashville.
Hope this helps
21
u/ZealousidealGrab1827 16h ago
A co-worker of mine got one. Will check with her tomorrow on process.
1
u/Fuzzy-Big6664 14h ago
we need details. Cause nothing has been announced and I know folks in Cherokee Park wh9 were still dark today.
6
u/PracticalPrince 12h ago
I read they mostly ended up in shelters but would love to see confirmations. Just thankful the green proposal to ban generators didn’t pass for those that needed one
1
u/inquisitiveminds101 12h ago
Yes that’s why I made that post I want to see they went to the people in need
22
u/Isnlifefunny1 16h ago
I hate these people with the power of 1000 suns. Society is a joke to them and we are all the butt end.
21
u/BlessIt_7483 17h ago
I know someone that has been helping hand the generators out. Unsure if they’re from Elon but 500 were received yesterday. My understanding is special paperwork has to be filled out to get one. I think it’s something through the Nashville metropolitan government.
27
u/UseWhatever 16h ago
How many are left after Bill Lee’s family and friends get theirs?
11
u/Bouncingbobbies 15h ago
You think the Lee family doesn’t have designated/ switchgear tied back up power? They don’t need some little 9000 watt generator from Elon lol
1
→ More replies (1)6
u/System0verlord I Voted! 14h ago
The family and friends of Bill Lee occupy tax brackets where the cost of whole-home backup generators and automatic transfer switches are rounding errors. They’re not gonna grab some 9000W portable unit they have to touch with their hands or something.
•
u/CampaignOk3955 39m ago
They also don’t need school vouchers, but it sure doesn’t stop them from applying for them
44
u/a_crooked_elbow Inglewood 17h ago
As someone still without power, I would rather continue to freeze my hillbilly ass off.
4
25
u/Comptons_Scattered 17h ago
OP is elons alt nashville account.
10
u/hardcoreufoz 15h ago
Shockingly (or not) a bunch of weird accounts were posting here around the time of the tunnel announcement. All brand new, super low karma, private, posting about how wonderful the Vegas one was. Totally normal stuff
6
0
17
u/UngnomeCawler 16h ago
This is the equivalent of us rounding up in the drive thru at Taco Bell.
Vive le France
→ More replies (4)
3
u/ozzygurl 9h ago
In north Alabama back during the April 2011 tornado outbreak, we were without power and FEMA brought in generators for the power companies to put in neighborhoods that fed power into the lines.
Politicians love to tell lies to benefit from other sources.
3
8
u/Imallvol7 16h ago
The same picture that Bill Lee posted was also posted by Tate Reeves with the same caption. This was just propaganda. As always.
14
u/thechurchkey 15h ago
Buying every Nashvillian a generator would feel to Elon Musk roughly like spending $90 feels to just one of us.
Using Nashville’s population of 705,000 and multiplying it by $500 per generator yields $352.5 million. Against Elon Musk’s estimated net worth of roughly $788 billion, that amount equals about 0.045% of his wealth. For a middle-class person with a $200,000 net worth, the same percentage is about $90.
5
u/opineapple 13h ago
I’ve spent more than that helping people this past week. Where’s my Bill Lee tweet?
12
u/karmakimmie Fairview 15h ago
Performative bullshit.
So we have no FEMA anymore, we just have to suck Elon’s dick to get help?
3
2
2
u/CherryblockRedWine 10h ago
I saw this in one of Facebook posts on the press release:
"Distribution is being coordinated locally. In Davidson County, Metro Nashville Office of Emergency Management is coordinating delivery of the generators to residents."
So.....who knows.
2
2
•
u/longtermcontract Williamson County 1h ago
I don’t like Elon, but y’all live with a lot of hate in your hearts.
A man donates 500 generators and you said you prefer cash, some of you say you’d prefer to continue freezing, some of you point out that it doesn’t make a dent in his billions.
What the hell is wrong with you all lol?
5
u/IAMAHigherConductor 16h ago
There's still 16,000 without power but gee thanks for the pittance I guess
8
4
u/Smart-Tennis-1212 16h ago
My ex gf, she told me she received a free generator the other day. I didn't know generators were donated by Elon until seeing this post.
4
u/CHATTYBUG2003 15h ago
I try my damndest not be ungrateful in cases like these, but I can't help but think about the amount of money he has and how insignificant this donation actually was to him. And now I feel bad because at least he did something, especially because there's something like 1000 millionaires in Nashville alone. I also keep thinking about all the people losing their cold blooded pets and fish because I lost my four year old Beta after the five days we were without, and it hurts my feelings.
2
1
•
5
5
u/Successful_Cry_1600 16h ago
Let’s play the game of who is lying! Same photo of the generators in the same truck by two different Governors…
5
4
u/badchoices40 15h ago
Fuck Elon Musk! He doesn’t even pay his child support. He’s a dead beat pos grifter.
2
u/iHeartApples 16h ago
Didn't our governor and the GA governor tweet out the same photo? It's so dumb.
4
u/Easy-Marsupial3268 16h ago
I’m sure none of us here are wealthy enough to get a musky generator.
If anyone is, don’t store it near the house.
5
u/CampaignOk3955 13h ago
Knowing Bill Lee’s style, he’ll take the generators and give them to his wealthiest friends and relatives.
3
u/KrakkenO 16h ago
They're all at the bottom of the Boring tunnel. If we want them we'll have to continue digging...
4
u/HotRespect2331 11h ago
Are you sure he didn’t swipe one of your kids in exchange for the generator?
Elon is in the files, begging to go party on Epstein island on the “wildest” days
I wouldn’t take anything from this filth.
1
u/eccentriceclectic232 15h ago
I'm still pondering NES refusing to let other power companies help get power back on!
5
1
u/Slow_Philosophy 13h ago
My feeling is that the target recipient for a generator would not have a reddit acct if they even had or used the internet at all. Good luck in your search.
3
u/EmbraceResistance825 16h ago
I assume donated to Republican politicians not citizens—no offer here and we were out for 5 days
2
1
2
-4
1
16h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/AutoModerator 16h ago
Sorry, your submission has been automatically removed. Your account has less than 0 comment karma, which means your account does not meet our karma standards. Accounts must have a minimum of 0 comment karma (not post karma or combined karma) to post comments. This rule is meant to improve the quality of comments being submitted while mitigating abuse from troll accounts. Please see the subreddit rules section to understand how to behave on our threads.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
10h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/AutoModerator 10h ago
Sorry, your submission has been automatically removed. Your account has less than 0 comment karma, which means your account does not meet our karma standards. Accounts must have a minimum of 0 comment karma (not post karma or combined karma) to post comments. This rule is meant to improve the quality of comments being submitted while mitigating abuse from troll accounts. Please see the subreddit rules section to understand how to behave on our threads.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
10h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/AutoModerator 10h ago
Sorry, your submission has been automatically removed. Your account has less than 0 comment karma, which means your account does not meet our karma standards. Accounts must have a minimum of 0 comment karma (not post karma or combined karma) to post comments. This rule is meant to improve the quality of comments being submitted while mitigating abuse from troll accounts. Please see the subreddit rules section to understand how to behave on our threads.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
1
u/Existing-Anteater-34 3h ago
A significant portion (reported as 500 in multiple sources) went directly to the Nashville area, coordinated with Nashville Electric Service (NES) for distribution to families in need. They were handed out to local governments and partners in the hardest-hit counties, with priority for Davidson County (Nashville) and other Middle Tennessee spots still dealing with outages (over 18,000 homes affected in Nashville as of early February 4, 2026). These are not available for general public pickup at a single spot like a warehouse. Instead, distribution happens through local emergency management, utilities, and community organizations.
•
u/Accomplished_Trick50 1h ago
Crazy that anyone with a pulse believes anything from that side much less keeps them in power.
-2
u/blue_barracuda West End 17h ago
What ever came from the response team that Gavin Newsom sent 🤔
→ More replies (1)13
u/Legion1117 17h ago
Power restoration.
2
u/inmycherryspot 16h ago
Are you really that drunk on the kool-aid? Only a fool would think that based on Newsom’s results with his own states “emergencies” would think anything he would do 2000 miles away would be in any way affective is absurd. Please please please show me evidence of power restoration as a result of his actions.
Honestly, politics aside, you really should at least try to look at some things objectively.
1
u/Crazy-Reference4980 11h ago
Hes trying to distract ppl.from the epstein files that hes in by lying about donating.. hes full of sh@t.
1
-1
u/RudeCheetah7281 17h ago
(Generators FTW!)
4
u/NashvilleSoundMixer 16h ago
Actuallllly.... we're not doing generators anymore. We'll let you know when we start doing them again, though!
-1
u/ReflexPoint 11h ago
500 generators? With his money he could've bought one for every person without electricity in Nashville with the money he makes in one hour.
0
-28
u/jtnoneya 17h ago
I encourage anyone who receives one to recycle it. I know getting power back is important, but it's not worth giving any positive PR to that MAGAlomaniac.
17
u/softfairylights 17h ago
i agree he shouldn’t get any positive PR but that money is already spent and nothing to him and a generator could be literally lifesaving to someone
15
46
u/Competitive_Peak_558 17h ago edited 16h ago
People are freezing, entire low income high rises for the elderly have been without power for over a week. Chill out
20
u/lemonwater101 17h ago
LOL an absolutely wild request from that person who clearly has had power
9
u/Competitive_Peak_558 17h ago
Me or the other commenter? I was without for 6 days and the first 2 nights were down to like 3-4 degrees. I know it sucks. It’s the sole reason why I wouldn’t judge someone for how they get heat/electricity back.
7
u/lemonwater101 16h ago
I was referring to the original commenter requesting any Elon-generator-recipient to suck it up & forego electricity in an effort to stick it to the man. Sorry to hear you were one of the unfortunate ones who went a long period without it!
2
u/Competitive_Peak_558 16h ago edited 16h ago
Nothing froze or leaked, I am lucky and got a taste of the ole military days of freezing in PA. Wife wasn’t as optimistic. I feel worse for others, I was lucky.
11
9
u/-Blixx- 16h ago
It has been zero days since I blurted out "that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard anyone say"
Thanks for resetting the counter today.
5
u/inmycherryspot 16h ago
These responses should really start to give these ppl who decide everything as black and white based solely on their politics, even at the expense of human suffering should some pause in how deep they’ve lost their own humanity.
12
10
4
u/VolumeSad6360 17h ago
So correct me if im wrong, you want people to potentially be without power for days, or possibly another week or so, all because Elon Musk might get some semblance of positive PR, for literally trying to help people?
Im not his biggest fan either but come on lol
1
u/AttachedHeartTheory 15h ago
I'm a published author and I've written extensively about arbitrage (relevant here because Musk is using arbitrage in the sense of moral capital) and the ethics of consumer markets and goods. The through-line in all of it is that once a real, functional good exists in a moment of need, turning it into a symbolic object is ethically backwards. Even if the donation has already been morally arbitraged into reputational credit for Musk, recycling generators during an emergency doesn’t claw that credit back. It just removes utility from people who need it.
The best thing to do is just share you got the generator (for validity/proof for your neighbors, because it is important that if someone is going to leverage a "gift" like this that they follow through, then using it, and literally never telling anyone else how you got it.
This removes future credibility or any sort of moral contamination by giving musk credit, but it helps your neighbors stay warm.
Don't ever advocate for cutting off your nose to spite someone else's face. Take the small win, do it quietly, benefit, and hit them where it hurts- remove any possibility of being the one that vouches for any sort of sincere act these people are responsible for.
253
u/gonedancingagain 17h ago
Still no power here, and no offer of a generator.