MISO members say that work-from-home measures and social distancing mandates in workplaces aren’t generally impeding their pace of work, but they do miss the personal collaboration afforded by in-person meetings.

The RTO asked Advisory Committee members to discuss how the novel coronavirus has impacted their company operations during a June 17 teleconference.

“COVID has impacted every industry, every business around the world,” MISO Vice President of Strategy and Business Development Wayne Schug said in opening the discussion.

He asked stakeholders “what a path to normality” looks like for their companies, or if they could even return to complete normalcy.

“Once the stay-at-home orders were in effect, many of us found ourselves at home, probably taking way too many virtual meetings,” Schug said.

According to a MISO survey, only about 14% of member companies had had more than 25% of their workforce working remotely before the pandemic hit. Now, most MISO member companies have more than a quarter of their employees reporting from home.

“In large part, our projects are on schedule. There have been some delays to accommodate this new work environment,” Otter Tail Power’s Stacie Hebert said, referring to rescheduled public meetings and temporarily closed courthouses.

DTE Energy is returning employees to the field to resume maintenance work, the company’s Manager of Wholesale Power Markets Nick Griffin reported.

North Dakota Commissioner Julie Fedorchak said it was at first difficult to maintain the pace of the commission’s work remotely while still honoring open meeting requirements. However, state commissions now largely have the remote format down pat.

“I think commissions got to the point where they could do just about anything,” Fedorchak said, adding that her commission had already been laying the groundwork for more virtual meetings prior to the pandemic.

She said the commission was able to honor all biweekly regular meetings, as well as permitting and routing meetings, while many employees worked from home. She also said about 75% of commission staff have returned on-site.

When MISO Director Todd Raba asked what member companies do when employees come down with a COVID-19 infection, multiple members said their companies have yet to confront that situation. Griffin noted that cases among DTE Energy’s 11,000 employees jumped from about 50 to about 200 “after an isolated incident at one of our power plants.”

Audrey Penner said her fellow Manitoba Hydro employees would return to offices “not earlier than the end of the summer.”

Director Barbara Krumsiek asked how member companies are preparing for a possible second wave of infections in the fall.

Many companies are targeting a return to work at year’s end or spring of 2021, Griffin responded.

“I would expect more telecommuting practices even after the pandemic,” he said.

Missing Meetings

Schug asked how MISO members are faring under an entirely virtual stakeholder process.

LS Power’s Pat Hayes said an online stakeholder process has been working “rather well,” though connectivity during meetings sometimes lags. “Of course, you’re hearing some dogs bark and some family conversations in the background.”

Hayes also lamented an inability to directly interact with people at meetings and make personal connections. He wasn’t alone.

“It’s about getting to know people in the process. But it’s also about when you have a differing opinion, maybe meeting in the hallway to have a follow-up, asking clarifying questions, having a meeting of the minds,” Beth Soholt of Clean Grid Alliance added.

“It’s impossible to read body language,” said CMTC’s Kevin Murray about virtual meetings.

“A lot of the work that we do is based on in-person interaction,” noted Travis Stewart of Gabel Associates, who requested that MISO find a way to facilitate more spontaneous conversations.

“I dearly miss sitting around a table and the congeniality,” Penner said of quarterly MISO Board Weeks. “I’m looking forward to getting back into a room together.”

MISO has halted all in-person stakeholder meetings at its offices through the end of the year. Offsite meetings — such as Board Week — have also largely been converted to a virtual format, though RTO executives hold out hope that the December Board Week in Orlando may yet be spared. MISO has also begun allowing employees back on-site on a voluntary basis at its three office locations.

MISO also plans to hold virtual Nominating Committee meetings through November, where new MISO board candidates are vetted and selected for member voting.

Directors Theresa Wise and Baljit Dail will reach their term limits at the end of the year. Wise is eligible to serve another three-year term, while Dail has already exceeded his total three-term limit through a special waiver in 2017, which was granted to retain his IT expertise. (See “Committee Permits Consideration of Extra Term for Dail,” MISO BoD Briefs: June 22, 2017.)

“We miss seeing you in the auditorium. We’re doing this virtually, but we’d much rather do it in person. As soon as it’s safe to do so, we’re going to resume these,” Board Chair Phyllis Currie said during the June 18 board meeting.

Difficult Times

Schug asked how companies are considering stressed-out ratepayers under the pressure-cooker combination of the pandemic’s economic fallout and social and racial justice protests in every state.

“There’s a lot of pressure on customers right now … manifesting in a lot of ways,” Public Consumer Advocates Sector Representative Christina Baker said. “… The economic effect is going to be around for years to come.”

She said “all customers — not 1% of customers” are experiencing stressors related to the pandemic and the push for societal change.

“For the customers it’s a much broader, longer, multilayered time for them,” Baker said.

Krumsiek agreed: “For the end-use customer, there’s no return to normal. Our vulnerable populations for COVID run along the same lines as those affected by racial injustice.”

Schug asked if MISO members anticipate a slowdown in the political push for renewables and carbon reductions given the political and social turmoil.

“I don’t anticipate a reduction in demand for renewable energy because of the pandemic. I really don’t,” Fedorchak said.

Soholt also expects carbon reduction goals to continue as planned.

“I think our sector expects to see some of these issues percolate up in integrated resource plans,” she said, adding that a renewable buildout could put some people back to work.

In the MISO footprint, load dipped by about 11% during the country’s strongest lockdown measures. Now, Schug said load is currently trending about 5% below weather-adjusted norms.

Murray said his clients are experiencing different load recoveries. For instance, he said steel companies, automobile manufacturing and oil and gas production have been significantly dragged down. Other manufacturers are less affected.

Further waivers of MISO Tariff requirements might still be necessary, Griffin said. MISO has so far put together a waiver of load modifying resource registration deadlines for the capacity auction and a 60-day grace period on the June 25 deadline to demonstrate exclusive land use for some generation projects in the interconnection queue. (See MISO Drafts COVID-19 Waiver for LMRs.)

“We’d like MISO to remain flexible,” he said.