Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
At the NATF, our top priority remains the health and safety of our staff and members. To help inform our decisions during the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been working closely with our members and tracking updates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state and local authorities. The NATF has taken specific actions to limit potential exposure for staff and members and initiated specific coordination and information-sharing mechanisms to assist member planning and response.
The NATF will continue to support members and the industry in whatever capacity possible.
Member Support
NATF member companies have updated and implemented their pandemic plans and taken actions to limit potential exposure for their employees. The NATF facilitated information-exchange mechanisms to assist the membership in this regard, such as the following:
- Webinars hosted by our System Operations Practices Group
- Sharing of information, approaches, and practices
- Topics have included response plans, operations staffing (safety/health, shift rotation, facilities, sequestration, etc.), family support, coordination of field personnel, and approaches for “return-to-normal” operations
- Epidemic/pandemic plan resource
- Also available to the industry (“Resources” section below)
- Surveys on return-to-normal operations
- Resource page on our member site
- Discussion boards
- Member practices
- Links to external sources
External Coordination
The NATF has been in close contact with industry partners to coordinate on activities, reduce duplication of effort, and share information on pandemic-response activities.
One particularly important initiative resulted in an "Epidemic/Pandemic Response Plan Resource," which was jointly developed by the NATF, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), the U.S. Department of Energy, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The resource is meant to help utilities create, update, or formalize their epidemic/pandemic plans in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We also conducted a webinar with NERC on pandemic planning and response activities.Meeting and Events
We have postponed in-person events, converting to webinars as appropriate. We have been working with members and our industry partners to reschedule specific activities.
Our regularly scheduled webinars have continued as planned. The NATF membership is adept at exchanging information and sharing lessons learned during virtual meetings, and these interactions will be even more valuable as we deal with current circumstances.
Industry Activities
NATF-NERC Webinar on Pandemic Planning and Response Activities
March 17, 2021
Presentations
Announcements (View All)
NATF and NERC to Host Webinar on Pandemic Planning and Response Activities
On March 17, the North American Transmission Forum (NATF) and North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) will host a webinar about pandemic planning and response activities as well as resources available to industry. Opening remarks will be provided by Commissioner Neil Chatterjee, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC); Tom Galloway, president and CEO of NATF; and Manny Cancel, senior vice president of NERC and CEO of the Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center (E-ISAC). The webinar will feature presentations on pandemic activities from the following organizations:
- NATF
- NERC
- E-ISAC
- Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council (ESCC)
- Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)
- European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E)
- European Commission (Directorate-General for Energy)
The webinar will be held from 9:00–11:00 a.m. eastern. For more information or assistance, please contact Ted Franks at tfranks@natf.net or 704-945-1949.
Leave a comment