MISO is likely still months away from returning its full workforce on-site to its multiple offices in the Midwest and South, based on indications this week from its pandemic incident response team.

The RTO said that while it is creating detailed return-to-work plans, it remains in a holding pattern and is still advising most non-control room employees to continue working from home.

“The problem for us, and I think everyone right now, is the situation is fluid, and we don’t have a solution yet,” MISO Executive Director of Incident Response Angela Weber told MISO South stakeholders during an Entergy Regional State Committee teleconference Monday. “It’s something we’re still working on and taking our time to do it right.”

MISO meets regularly with an infectious disease doctor and an epidemiologist for updates and advice, Weber said. “We make sure we’re responding in a very measured and informed way.”

The RTO is also monitoring infection rates around the country and pairing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommended 14 days of sustained declining infection rates with adequate testing, contact tracing and ample hospital capacity, Weber said. If those criteria are satisfied, MISO would begin moving to normal operations, she said.

Weber’s comments came as the nation’s daily count of new infections nearly hit 66,000, the 37th straight day that the seven-day average of new infections in the U.S. had trended upward. Total COVID-19 deaths, which lag infections, are approaching 140,000.

Most of MISO’s non-control room employees have been working from home since mid-March, and the RTO has isolated its control room staff by forbidding other staff from entering control room buildings. (See Heat Counteracts COVID-19 Impact on MISO Load.) MISO’s meeting spaces are closed to in-person stakeholder meetings through at least the end of the year.

The grid operator has also expanded the financial and mental health counseling it offers its employees, Weber added.