Journal of Critical Infrastructure Policy Volume 1, Number 2, Fall/Winter 2020 | Page 15

Largest US Electric Grid Organization Addresses COVID-19
Asthana We have had a pandemic plan in place since 2006 . A priority for us , in that plan , is to protect the operators — the people who actually dispatch and monitor the flow of power from our control centers . We have two control rooms at two separate locations , completely redundant . We immediately isolated the two control rooms . from each other , so people were not traveling from one to the other .
While we work really hard at envisioning and preparing for thousands of scenarios that can affect grid reliability and security , COVID-19 has brought challenges that no one expected . We took a number of measures early on to keep our control room operators safe . This included establishing designated entances and exits and transitioning to longer shifts . We also set up alternate workstations within the control room to maximize social distancing . All acess to the control room was suspended except for copntrol room staff .
In addition , we set up staging areas for arriving operators while their workstation is cleaned in order to limit contact between dispatchers between shifts . We are disinfectin g control rooms daily and sanitizing operator worksrtations prior to and after each shift . We ’ ve also minimized the use of shared equipment like headsets . Another important step was to encourage operators to self-quarentine when not on shift and to conduct a self-observation checklist including twice daily temperature checks before coming on shift .
Most notably , we constructed a third control room on one of our campuses in a physically separate structure to be populated by a sequestered team of operators . On April 11 , PJM began sequestration of that team , who worked and lived on campus in RVs until June 23 . These operators were tested before going in and went in together . While sequestration has ended , we have retained the third control room and campuses as sequestration-ready . In addition and going forward , we and others have identified the need for a “ deeper bench ” of trained operators who may be working in other positions , but maintain their certifications and would be able to work in case of a mass infection of control room workers .
Krieg What about coordination with generation resource managers ? How did you obtain information from these owners on how the pandemic was impacting individual company operations ? Did this include considering worst case pandemic scenarios , and , if so , what were the findings ?
Asthana Coordination of maintenance has been a big focus for us . Early on , PJM Operations led an outreach effort to the transmission and generation owners to better ascertain what to expect and best plan for the upcom-
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