PJM is officially going ahead with its plan for in-person stakeholder meetings at the Valley Forge, Pa. campus beginning with the April Liaison Committee after more than two years of virtual meetings resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Asim Haque, PJM’s vice president of state and member services, said the RTO is following a “phased approach” from April through July with most stakeholder meetings going in-person by June. All PJM meetings will continue to feature a remote attendance option for members.

“As pandemic restrictions nationally and in Pennsylvania are relaxed, PJM is proceeding with our previously announced campus reopening plans,” Haque said in an email sent Thursday to stakeholders.

The first in-person meetings take place April 19 with the Liaison Committee meeting held on the PJM campus as part of the PJM Board of Managers meeting. The Liaison Committee runs from 3 to 5 p.m.

Haque said PJM is requesting members to register as soon as possible for the Liaison Committee meeting to have a clear count ahead of time for the number of stakeholders who will be at the campus.

The PJM Annual Meeting, which includes the board election and General Session, will take place May 17 at the campus. 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 scheduled for May 25.

Beginning in June, meetings for all standing committees and senior task forces will be held on campus. The meetings include the MRC, and Members, Planning, Market Implementation, Operating and Risk Management committees, along with the Capacity Capability, Electric Gas Coordination, Energy Price Formation, Modeling Generation, Resource Adequacy and the Regulation Market Design senior task forces.

PJM will hold the second part of the Annual Meeting’s MC and General Session at a remote location that will include a “reception and leisure activities” from Oct. 24 to 26. Haque said the location for the remote Annual Meeting is still being decided.

In-person state and member training events started earlier this month in Baltimore for the 2022 PJM Operator Seminar. Two other upcoming member training events are scheduled, including March 28 to April 22, in Columbus, Ohio, and April 25 to May 13, on the PJM campus.

Masks and Vaccinations

Haque said PJM will follow the masking guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Montgomery County Office of Public Health, which is currently at a low risk level for cases of COVID-19. Masking is optional and not required indoors at the low risk level.

PJM is maintaining its vaccination policy set in November, Haque said, mandating COVID-19 vaccines for its employees, contractors, vendors and stakeholders working at or attending meetings at campus or to attend RTO events on and off campus. (See PJM to Mandate COVID-19 Vaccines.)

Haque said visitors will be required to be fully vaccinated “without exception” at the time of the event start date they are attending. He said booster shots are not required per CDC guidance.

Visitors are required to show proof of vaccination along with a valid government-issued ID upon arrival at the PJM event.

“I am looking forward to seeing each of you back at the PJM campus, and I want to again thank you for your patience, participation, goodwill and flexibility as we meet the challenges of these changing times,” Haque said.