Investor-owned electric company CEOs highlight fierce pandemic responses
The electric power sector’s role during the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be understated as the industry’s workforce has gone far and above just keeping on the lights, said some of the nation’s leading chief executives during the opening keynote session of the Edison Electric Institute’s (EEI) 2020 Virtual Leadership Summit on Wednesday.
Thomas Kuhn, president of EEI, which represents all of the nation’s investor-owned electric utilities, kicked off the summit noting that one of the industry’s greatest strengths is its ability to convene and adapt quickly to changing circumstances and challenging events by planning for myriad situations via strong industry-government coordination and cross-sector collaborations and partnerships.
“We continue learning new things and adjusting to a new normal that may be with us for a while,” Kuhn said.
EEI Chairman Ben Fowke, the chairman, president and chief executive officer of Xcel Energy, agreed, saying the pandemic “has touched nearly every aspect of our lives and our businesses,” a public health crisis further compounded this year by historic storms and catastrophic wildfires.
“The loss of human life is heartbreaking and the mounting toll on the U.S. economy, on families and on businesses large and small is staggering,” Fowke said, noting that EEI companies have come together “with the singular purpose” of keeping the electricity flowing while supporting customers, investors, communities, and the industry’s workforce.
“In our industry, there is no margin for error,” added Fowke during his keynote address. “Electric companies are committed to serving our customers and our communities in good times and bad, and this crisis has only reinforced the value of electricity in our society.”
The industry’s fast mobilization during the pandemic is truly commendable, he said, and companies continue “to work around the clock to keep the lights on while protecting the health and safety of our employees.”
In fact, how the industry continues to navigate its ongoing COVID-19 response and how it will contribute to post-pandemic recovery while also advancing long-term goals is one of the major initiatives that Fowke said he has identified to address during his year as EEI’s chairman, a post he was elected to in June.
Following his remarks, Fowke then moderated the conference’s first session on Sept. 9 in which he and the industry’s top company executives discussed how the electric industry is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the impact on electricity customers, the industry workforce, clean energy, infrastructure, and regulation.
In New York for instance, John McAvoy, chairman, president and CEO of Consolidated Edison, vividly remembers when Gov. Andrew Cuomo started lockdown and closed schools on March 15. By April, New York City had 200,000 positive cases and 10,000 deaths, with New Jersey and parts of Connecticut experiencing similar numbers – all part of Con Edison’s service territory.
Likewise, Con Edison had 25-plus employees testing positive each day for the coronavirus and had about 1,000 employees quarantined, said McAvoy, adding that eight employees died.
But the company had a playbook, procedures and a team in place to handle Con Edison’s quick response, which included adopting “major approaches around social distancing and excessive hygiene,” he said.
For instance, the company set up tents at ball fields, malls, vacant properties, and other locations for testing and in no time had its at-home workforce of 650 virtual employees grow to more than 8,000.
Con Edison also implemented changes in employee benefits, such as childcare coverage, increased vacation carryover, counseling, and discounted legal services to help employees draw up wills, for example. Con Edison also worked with its unions on instituting fast collective bargaining contracts and set up an employee hotline to regularly relay information.
“The most important thing we did is communicate information with our employees quickly and transparently,” McAvoy said. “All of that allowed us to reinforce teamwork and reduce stress and anxiety for our employees.”
Jeffrey Guldner, chairman, president and CEO at Pinnacle West Capital Corp., said the pandemic required the industry, stakeholders and regulators to adapt in numerous ways, as well, including around low-income customers, who needed new programs and support to help them navigate during a no-cutoff moratorium and then to also get back to being in good standing.
Guldner said that the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) worked with the electric utilities and state public service commissioners who regulate essential utility services to coordinate on hastening needed policies, such as delaying electricity turnoffs. And when short-term commercial paper dried up at the start of the pandemic, he said policymakers and the feds opened up the short-term paper market to provide utilities with needed capital.
Portland General Electric President and CEO Maria Pope added that it was very important for the industry to immediately move to remove disconnects because it allowed customers to pay their other bills. But now, she said, Portland General Electric is thinking about what else needs to be done to continue to support customers.
“We have leaned into new technologies, like AI tools for instance,” Pope said, “and added a newly designed website. We’re also using technologies and partnerships in a whole new way,” including around accelerating clean energy and lowering the cost of renewable energy.
At the same time, Fowke pointed out that the industry’s workforce has and will continue to change during and after the pandemic.
“COVID has been a challenge and has changed how we operate,” agreed Mike Innocenzo, president and CEO of PECO Energy Co., an Exelon company serving the Philadelphia region. “All of our workforce now works differently with 45 percent working remotely.”
And with so many employees working from home, companies should ensure there’s a corporate culture that exists to encourage them to stay, he added.
“In some ways we’ve advanced the ball: we’re more efficient, more innovative, and now develop more effective processes,” Innocenzo said. “When all is said and done … we’ll find that COVID has been a launching pad for new opportunities.”
