PJM announced Tuesday that it’s delaying the return to campus for employees and stakeholders because of “recent events” surrounding the rise of COVID-19 cases from the Omicron variant.
CEO Manu Asthana made the announcement in a message sent to members, saying the RTO originally expected to reopen the campus to employees in a phased-in approach beginning in January and return to in-person meetings for specified stakeholder committees in the first quarter.
But Asthana said “new guidance” from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and consultation with PJM’s epidemiologist have led the RTO to delay employee return until the middle of March and the start of most in-person stakeholder meetings “in a phased manner” to April through June.
“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. “Since January 2020, we have taken a variety of actions to safeguard our people and the power grid against the risk posed by the coronavirus pandemic.”
In November, PJM mandated 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. (See PJM to Mandate COVID-19 Vaccines.)
Asthana said the Liaison Committee, the first scheduled stakeholder meeting, will take place on April 19 as part of the Board of Managers’ meeting.
The PJM Annual Meeting, which is usually held at a remote location, will take place on the campus on May 17. Meetings of the board with the Transmission Owners Agreement-Administrative Committee and the Public Interest & Environmental Organizations User Group are scheduled for May 18.
An in-person meeting of the Markets and Reliability Committee is now scheduled for May 25.
Meetings for all standing committees and senior task forces will be held on campus beginning in June. Those include the MRC, and Members, Planning, Market Implementation, Operating and Risk Management committees.
Sometime in the fall, PJM will hold the MC and General Session at a remote location that will include a “reception and leisure activities,” Asthana said.
In-person state and member training events are scheduled to resume in March for the 2022 PJM Operator Seminar. Those include:
- March 7 to 25, in Baltimore;
- March 28 to April 22, in Columbus, Ohio; and
- April 25 to May 13, on the PJM campus.
Asthana said PJM business travel is expected to resume in the spring. He said PJM plans on providing more detail on the campus reopening process, protocols and meeting logistics as the dates come closer.
“As always, we will continue to evaluate our plans based on the trajectory of the pandemic,” Asthana said.