PJM is mandating COVID-19 vaccines for its employees, contractors, vendors and stakeholders working at or attending meetings at the Valley Forge, Pa., campus or to attend RTO events on and off campus beginning Jan. 4.

CEO Manu Asthana made the announcement in a letter sent to stakeholders Nov. 19, laying out a path for the return to in-person meetings on the campus and working procedures for employees.

Stakeholders had argued for months at committee meetings that the RTO should mandate vaccinations for all its employees. They received further updates at the September Operating Committee meeting, with PJM staff saying they were reviewing Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) rules requiring vaccinations or a weekly negative COVID-19 test for any company with more than 100 employees by consulting the RTO’s legal counsel, its epidemiologist and the executive team. (See “COVID-19 Update,” PJM Operating Committee Briefs: Sept. 10, 2021.)

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in New Orleans, earlier this month granted an emergency stay prohibiting enforcement of the OSHA rules, with the court saying they raised “grave statutory and constitutional issues.” The 6th Circuit, in Cincinnati, was selected on Nov. 17 to accept legal challenges to the mandate, and the Biden administration filed an emergency court motion on Nov. 23 seeking the reinstatement of the mandate.

Asthana thanked the membership for their cooperation and flexibility in the stakeholder process as the RTO has “navigated our way through the pandemic.”

“At PJM, the safety, security and reliability of the high-voltage electric system and the wellbeing of our employees and stakeholders are paramount,” Asthana said.

Stakeholder Meetings

PJM had said in August that it expected to resume holding in-person stakeholder meetings on the RTO’s campus in the first quarter of 2022, starting with the Members Committee’s and Markets and Reliability Committee’s meetings.

Asthana announced that PJM intends to extend an in-person meeting option in the second quarter of 2022 for the RTO’s standing committees, including the Planning, Market Implementation, Operating and Risk Management committees, as well as senior task force meetings.

Stakeholders will still have a virtual attendance option that has been available since PJM started emergency procedures for the pandemic in March 2020. Members wishing to attend in-person meetings will be required to be vaccinated.

Asthana said the RTO has been looking for locations for its Annual Meeting, but it has been unable to “secure an appropriate venue.” Instead, PJM will hold the meeting at its Conference and Training Center in Valley Forge to conduct necessary business in May, including the election of the Board of Managers, and then hold an event in the fall for “social and leisure activities.”

The Annual Meeting will start May 17 with the MC meeting, the board election and the general session. The following day will feature PJM board meetings with the Transmission Owners Agreement-Administrative Committee, the Public Interest and Environmental Organizations User Group, and the Organization of PJM States Inc. board of directors.

PJM Employees

Asthana also said PJM employees could resume business travel, which has been restricted since January 2020, in the first quarter, provided the employee is vaccinated.

In-person operator training will also resume next year with the spring PJM operator seminar running from March 7 to May 13. Asthana said details regarding the start of other in-person training seminars will be announced in the future.

When asked if there will there be any medical or religious exemptions provided to employees who do not take the vaccine, PJM spokeswoman Susan Buehler said the RTO is allowing for medical and “sincerely held religious exemptions” for employees. Buehler said the exemptions will be handled individually on a case-by-case basis.

A “majority” of PJM employees have already been vaccinated, Buehler said, and the RTO is working with unvaccinated employees to “provide flexibility and alternative jobs” if it is possible. She said the vaccine mandate does not apply to PJM employees working remotely 100% of the time.

Buehler said PJM has not been influenced by the federal court cases regarding the OSHA mandates and plans on holding to the Jan. 4 timeline.

“PJM is most concerned about the safety of the grid, the safety of employees and those who come on our campuses,” Buehler said.