SPP leadership has delayed staff’s return to their offices until at least Jan. 4 — a three-month delay from the previous target of Oct. 5 — because of increasing COVID-19 diagnoses in Arkansas.
COO Lanny Nickell said in a Thursday email that SPP’s officers decided to postpone the return to the RTO’s Little Rock headquarters until 2021. The White House Coronavirus Task Force on Tuesday said Arkansas has the nation’s seventh highest rate of new cases: 194 per 100,000. Arkansas on Wednesday reported 942 new cases and 19 deaths, raising its totals to 80,945 and 1,369, respectively.
“It wasn’t an easy choice. Like many of you, we’re eager to get back to normal, but case numbers are still high across our state and in Little Rock,” Nickell said. “Especially given our office’s open floor plan, which could exacerbate the effects of exposure should any of our staff become sick, we’re doing all we can to safeguard the health of our employees and our ability to serve you.”
Nickell also said SPP’s system loads have largely returned to pre-pandemic levels. He said the grid operator has sufficient capacity and reserves to meet demand this fall and that delayed generator maintenance has not resulted in an increase in unplanned outages.
