Powering through a pandemic
We hadn’t cleared the 1st quarter of 2020 when we found ourselves faced with a challenge like none we’ve faced before – professionally or personally. Here's how we weathered the COVID-19 storm and kept the lights on for our community while staying true to our values and supporting the 6 points of the North Star that guides us.
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Time flies while standing still
Just
askin'
We asked employees about their lives during the pandemic, specifically "what's been the silver lining?" Here's what they said.
The ability to stay connected with coworkers by utilizing technology. Virtual meetings and coffee breaks have helped me stay in touch.
Angelo Adams
Sarah Cheney
Vivianne Cao Nocon (formerly Zimmerman)
I got married and the wedding party size shrank down significantly, but made for a more intimate occasion.
Meet Ashlee Webb, a SMUD student intern turned employee who’s featured in a video about our internship programs. Webb participated in the 2019 Spring College Internship Program developed and managed by our Human Resources, Diversity & Inclusion team. Last spring, she graduated from Sacramento State and recently hired into our Sustainable Communities team. Her story is a great example of how our internship programs support our talent pipeline by helping us recruit local talent.
Join us on a trip down memory lane. In 2019, we continued our role as an industry leader and champion of energy solutions for our customers and community. We also expanded our role as an environmental steward as we prepared for the decade ahead. This video shares these highlights and more.
This timeline showcases how much has happened since our initial communication about COVID-19 on Feb. 6.
SMUD Shares our new normal
The pandemic reshaped our worlds. Here, employees share photos and stories of their new normal.
We’ve spent a lot less money and have been able to build up our savings account. I’ve also been able to keep a much closer eye on my 17-year-old daughter.
Rabbil Green
Jimmy Hartt
John Larsen
Videos help us reach out to our community
In response to COVID-19, we hustled to quickly produce these TV commercials and videos for social media.
Brianna Miller
Ellias van Ekelenburg
Jennifer Winchell
The silver lining in the COVID-19 pandemic is the continued realization of how significant family, friends, coworkers are in my life, and how we can overcome anything – together.
Being able to have more time with family and increased productivity in several areas of my work. SMUD's remote work has been a big help too.
Limiting trips to the market and making fewer trips to fast food has helped me. Eating at home and planning meals has helped me make better choices and lose pounds!
No commute, a little more sleep and, most importantly, lunch breaks with my 3-year-old daughter.
I’m grateful for the opportunity to provide critical safety support during an unprecedented time and work with SMUD employees I wouldn’t have otherwise.
Getting involved with my favorite nonprofit, Front Street Animal Shelter. I’m helping to foster 2 kittens who’ve brought me joy during this difficult time.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, a time like no other in our history, a lot has changed, but one thing has remained constant: SMUD’s commitment to our mission to keep the lights on and support our customers and community.
Message from Arlen
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Kelly Forrest
Josue Garcia
Denise Gee
The silver lining for me is starting a backyard garden and eating better because of the great veggies I’m growing!
Being able to meet/exceed my fitness goals. When you can stay in your gym clothes all day, it’s easier to take your lunches and to get in some exercise.
Being able to play with my wife and toddler out in the yard during my lunch breaks has been amazing.
| PRIVACY POLICY | TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Powering through a pandemic Time flies while standing still during COVID-19 SMUD Shares The videos that helped us help our community Just Askin'
In this issue
2020 Sacramento Municipal Utility District
SPECIAL COVID-19 ISSUE | July 2020
Powering through a pandemic Time flies while standing still during COVID-19 SMUD Shares
FEEDBACK?
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, a time like no other in our history, a lot has changed, but one thing has remained constant. That’s SMUD’s commitment to our mission to keep the lights on and support our customers and community. To keep this commitment, many of us quickly adjusted to working remotely, took on new responsibilities, changed processes and/or reported to various SMUD sites throughout the pandemic. And, as you’ll see reflected in this special issue of HiLines, we didn’t miss a beat. Though physically apart, we continued to work collaboratively to provide our customers and community with the consistency of service they desperately needed during this challenging time. The last few months have been action-packed and this issue of HiLines – the first in a digital format – recognizes and celebrates the great work our employees across the company did in support of our mission to serve. We restored power outages; responded to customer calls and emails; maintained our fleet; cared for our network and substations; protected our assets, facilities and employees; managed and maintained our facilities; and made sure our employees had the materials they needed to support our grid and customers. We did this while managing our COVID-19 response from a health and safety perspective to minimize risks to our employees and the public. We also quickly recognized and worked to address the ways COVID-19 has been hard on our community. We supported our customers and partners weathering difficult financial times and put measures in place to help them such as the moratorium on disconnections and late fees. You’ll find this example and many other ways we’ve soldiered on to serve our community, maintain flexibility and adjust our long-term goals and stay true to our mission throughout this issue. As my retirement gets closer, it would be easy to say it’s a bit of a downer to end my career at SMUD amid a pandemic. But, as I reflect on the last few months, it’s been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career to lead an incredibly dedicated and talented workforce that rolled up their sleeves, adapted and persevered when things at work and home were far from easy. Words can't do justice to the immense pride and gratitude I feel for the incredible work everyone at SMUD has done to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. We've worked hard to ensure the safety of both our employees and community members. Our employees’ deep commitment to and passion for serving our customers and community is the thing I love most about working for SMUD, and through the pandemic, we lived our values day in and day out, making sure our decisions were in the best interests of our employees, our customers and community, when the situation was often anything but clear. Our lives were upended literally overnight. And yet we all did the necessary work to get us where we needed to go. And I want to thank each of you, for digging deep, for being flexible and resilient and for never wavering in your mission to serve. That’s the thing I’ll miss most about SMUD when I retire later this year. That commitment to doing whatever it takes to serve others rain or shine, give back each year through tens of thousands of volunteer hours and donations, and work together as one in the face of adversity. We’re a team like no other. One mission, one set of shared values, one SMUD. I have no doubt SMUD will evolve from COVID-19 stronger than ever.
SPECIAL COVID-19 ISSUE July 2020
PRIVACY POLICY | TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, a time like no other in our history, a lot has changed, but one thing has remained constant. That’s SMUD’s commitment to our mission to keep the lights on and support our customers and community. To keep this commitment, many of us quickly adjusted to working remotely, took on new responsibilities, changed processes and/or reported to various SMUD sites throughout the pandemic. And, as you’ll see reflected in this special issue of HiLines, we didn’t miss a beat. Though physically apart, we continued to work collaboratively to provide our customers and community with the consistency of service they desperately needed during this challenging time.
a pandemic
We hadn’t cleared the 1st quarter of 2020 when we found ourselves faced with a challenge like none we’ve faced before – professionally or personally. By mid-March, the coronavirus (COVID-19) was declared a pandemic, and SMUD employees, like people across the country, and world were either sheltering in place to flatten the curve or serving as essential service workers.
Powering through
Keep our employees and community safe and keep the lights on.
Our mission was clear:
Across SMUD, our employees rose to the occasion, taking on new roles and different approaches to our work to continue providing services our customers have come to expect from the community-owned, not-for-profit utility created by and for them. We're weathering COVID-19, staying true to our values and supporting the 6 points of the North Star that guide us.
Be Safe. Always.
Going above and beyond the goal of safeguarding our employees from illness, we also sought to help them adjust to a new normal with the help of a variety of wellness resources – from regular tips in COVID-19 updates to Fitness Center-led videos employees could leverage to exercise and unwind. And, to help us all stay connected, CEO & General Manager Arlen Orchard shared weekly video blogs with the latest updates about the pandemic and SMUD’s actions to protect employees and continue serving our customers, as well as his personal insights, challenges and lessons learned.
We even sequestered some employees whose roles didn’t have sufficient backup to ensure we could continue providing their services should they fall ill. Between mid-April and mid-May, about 45 power system operators, distribution system operators, energy traders and other employees in small but critical workgroups sequestered onsite at SMUD in RVs to ensure continuity of service for our customers and community.
We closed our campuses to the public, made sure our employees that were required to work on campus or at a SMUD job site had personal protective equipment (PPE) and work processes to continue serving our customers while staying safe on the job. As the pandemic began to spread, we developed extensive and robust COVID-19 testing and contact tracing procedures to minimize the risk of infection among our employees.
Early on, we adapted our processes and procedures to reduce risks to our employees and the public. We restricted business travel and put measures in place to ensure anyone who had traveled to/from CDC Level 2 and 3 countries would be medically cleared before rejoining the workforce. Once COVID-19 was officially declared a pandemic, we transitioned about 1,400 employees to remote work virtually overnight so they could shelter-in-place at home and help flatten the COVID-19 curve.
From setting up and maintaining temperature screening stations where on-site employees could check for signs of illness before entering work areas to making sure safety tailboards included the latest updates to distributing sanitizer, masks and other healthcare safety items, protecting SMUD employees and our community was always job 1.
Value Our Customers and Community
Financially Fit
Sustainable Future
Operational Excellence
Treasure Our Employees
Even with SMUD’s Customer Service Center closed, we continue to provide our top-rated customer service in a variety of ways. Our Contact Center remained open, and we doubled the size of our home-based agent workforce — we now have more than 120 home-based agents. We offered safe and easy ways for customers to pay their bills online, through MyAccount, the SMUD app or by phone; provided online tools and support and reminded customers of options they can use to better control their bill, such as enrolling in Bill Alerts.
Given the spike in unemployment and financial hardship in our region due to COVID-19, we suspended all disconnections due to non-payment and late fees. The suspension has been extended to Jan. 4, 2021, recognizing that many of our customers were hurting and simply wouldn’t be able to pay their bills for months to come. With many customers dealing with a loss of income or unemployment, we also simplified the qualification requirements so more customers could qualify for SMUD’s Energy Assistance Program Rate (EAPR).
And, to keep inquiring students busy while distance learning, our Energy Education & Technology Center developed K-12 STEM educational resources, including lesson plans and activities for at-home learning, giving kids the opportunity to learn about energy. In June, we launched a free virtual solar summer camp, with an emphasis on reaching kids in historically underserved communities.
With rapid changes to a dynamic situation, we launched a multi-channel, multi-lingual “Stay Well” educational campaign in March to let our customers know about what we’re doing to support them during this difficult time. We also let them know about a new web page, smud.org/Coronavirus, where they'd find the latest information about SMUD’s COVID-19 response and all we’re doing to support customers during this difficult time. We followed it up with a campaign in June to let our customers and community know “we’re here to help” as they grappled with financial hardship. It highlighted
our flexible payment options, relaxed qualifications for our Energy Assistance Program Rate and online tools, as well as tips for lowering summer bills. Throughout the campaign, we shared how we’re focusing on essential services to keep the lights on.
It quickly became clear that the COVID-19 pandemic had and will continue to have a significant financial impact on people and businesses far and wide, including our own. We’re already seeing profound impacts on the economy, unemployment, local businesses, load and revenue, uncertainty about our customers’ abilities to pay their bills and how long it’ll take for the economy to recover. The good news is that over the past few years, we’ve taken bold measures to build our financial strength and have acted prudently and swiftly to contain and cut costs for 2020 and beyond so we can continue to successfully run our business. A cross-departmental Financial Response team was assembled to look at all aspects of our financial world and share updates with the executive team weekly. The team is closely monitoring forecast projections, risk, commodity costs and borrowing. So far, we’ve been able to identify $71 million in cash flow for 2020, but there’s a lot more work to do in 2021 and 2022 to continue to save. These savings have come from prioritizing cuts and changes to programs and research projects, taking a portfolio-based approach to our capital budgets, placing a hiring freeze through 2020, ceasing new pursuit of Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) clients, closely watching our procurement spend on all contracts and even more closely on large dollar contracts, to name a few. While some of the changes are significant, they’re necessary to responsibly respond to the financial challenges ahead. A lot of our focus for 2021 and beyond will be on how we manage and plan for work without adding rate increases beyond those that have already been approved.
While we faced many challenges navigating the COVID-19 pandemic, there were some positive outcomes from so many people sheltering-in-place. With a lot fewer vehicles on the road, our environment transformed, giving us a glimpse of a world with fewer pollutants, bluer skies and clearer waterways. We even saw signs of wildlife in areas where they’d never otherwise thrive, like the killdeer nest in the gravel lot on our Headquarters campus. We started to see a reduction of SMUD's environmental footprint toward the end of the 1st quarter. For example, our electricity use started to fall below our Q1 usage the prior year. From the prior quarter, Q1 CO2 non-generation emissions (those not from our power plants) dropped by 86 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents. That's like taking 22 cars off the road for a year. What's more, fuel purchases for our fleet fell by 27,284 gallons and air travel reduced by nearly 120 trips. And because so many of us were working remotely and leveraging electronic communications and tools, we saved 243,113 sheets of paper in the Q1 alone. That’s roughly 292 trees. For the latest figures and ways you can help us keep our footprint as small as possible in the future, employees can visit the iNet to search for and view SMUD's Carbon Footprint Dashboard. Employees and retirees alike can also view our Sustainability Report on smud.org.
In the face of a pandemic we haven’t seen the likes of in more than 100 years, most aspects of our work changed. What didn’t change was our ability to keep the lights on for our customers and community. Thanks to the collective actions of our employees on SMUD jobsites, on campus and at home, SMUD didn’t miss a beat in our mission to serve, a shining example of Operational Excellence. Just as we would’ve prior to COVID-19, we maintained our grid and infrastructure, troubleshot outages and rerouted power to restore impacted customers – something we wouldn’t be able to do without staff who continued to support our operations by managing our power supply, caring for our fleet and quality-checking equipment. And we procured materials and equipment needed to help us get this and other work done. We remained safe thanks to COVID-specific protocols and programs quickly put into place. And we socially distanced and encouraged our customers to do the same. We shared the ways we’re helping our community be safe, stay well via videos, social media, billboards and more. We persisted with key efforts such as wildfire mitigation on behalf of our territory – even contracting with a local business to leverage the weed-eating power of 400 goats to reduce vegetation along transmission line corridors. Meanwhile, some of us began working staggered schedules, changed work locations, took on new and different roles and supported community projects. Those of us working remotely learned to leverage video conferencing and Cloud technology. And we got used to new workspaces – some at SMUD but in different areas, some at home working remotely while homeschooling children, and others taking turns in sequestration and living out of RVs to ensure we could continue to provide essential services to our customers. To support employees, we extended leave programs and shared information with employees through ongoing, regular communications. To keep onsite employees safe and protect our buildings and equipment, we kept up security patrols, efforts to escort employees and more. We continued to hold public Board meetings in a virtual format while enabling public participation and kept calm and carried on with our search for our next CEO & General Manager. We even continued virtual trainings at the Sacramento Power Academy and extended LinkedIn Learning opportunities via LMS for employees across SMUD. We did all this and so much more, while staying connected thanks to our CEO’s weekly video blogs, as well as COVID email updates, ENNs, Daily Updates and an iNet site specifically about COVID-19 to make sure employees had the latest information on SMUD’s efforts to keep our employees and the public safe.
Unprecedented times call for unprecedented measures, and we did everything in our power to take the Treasure Our Employees point of the North Star to heart. Anticipating barriers to employees’ abilities to carry their usual workload, our Human Resources, Diversity & Inclusion team worked with teams across SMUD to develop paid leave programs specific to COVID-19 such as Paid Care for Children Leave. And, in April, we launched a Catastrophic Leave program for those not covered by SMUD’s Leave Donation program and who’d exhausted or were about to exhaust COVID-19 Paid Leave and their personal leave balances, and who required additional leave due to a COVID-19-related circumstance.
Click each icon to read how...
Employees whose workload had substantially lightened during the pandemic joined an enterprise shared resources program that matched employees and their skill sets with areas of SMUD in need of personnel. It was a win-win, and some of the first employees to take part in the program helped support Accounting, Finance and Information Technology. While making sure SMUD had enough staff support to keep the lights on and continue our mission and purpose as a community-owned utility, we also dedicated some staff hours to community nonprofits in need such as the March of Dimes. From the emergence of COVID-19 in the U.S. we developed and delivered what’s now hundreds of COVID-19 communications to keep employees informed, assured and engaged. This included updates on SMUD programs, breaking COVID-19 news and developments, a dedicated resource site on the iNet, videos to showcase our staff and promote their health and safety, video blogs with CEO & General Manager Arlen Orchard to provide employees big-picture and important news in his own words and much more. To help us all stay connected during COVID-19, SMUD Shares was created for employees to share funny and helpful stories about how they’re coping in this new work world.
In the past few months, we’ve changed how we interact with customers and work in the field, shifted a significant part of our workforce to remote work, stayed at home, stopped traveling for work and pleasure, supported our customers and community, educated our children at home, changed the way we gather and celebrate, held countless video chats and redefined the very essence of what we consider normal. This pandemic has changed us. And, we’ve responded.
Time flies while standing still during COVID-19
Held the first in a series of COVID-19 meetings where representatives from departments across SMUD regularly came together to monitor the pandemic as it emerged in China and spread to countries around the globe.
Here are some milestones
Jan. 30
The COVID-19 situation deepens as the U.S. sees its 1st death due to the illness. SMUD continues to monitor the situation, takes elevated flu season precautions and recommends limited travel to China.
Feb. 6
Activated SMUD’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at Level 1 to begin mitigation efforts to limit the spread of COVID-19 and protect employees.
Feb. 26
Postponed non-essential meetings and restricted SMUD employee attendance at large business/public meetings and events.
Feb. 28
Halted non-critical travel by SMUD employees through the end of March and developed guidelines for managing potential COVID-19 exposures.
March 11
COVID-19 was declared an official pandemic, moving SMUD’s EOC from Level 1 to Level 2 with increased activation to ensure SMUD continued to aggressively mitigate against the spread of COVID-19 and its impacts on employees and the public. EOC staff started reporting to the physical EOC location at 59th Street. Increased sanitation and social distancing guidelines were implemented across SMUD.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officially declared COVID-19 a pandemic, moving SMUD’s EOC from Level 1 to Level 2.
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1,800 face coverings distributed to support onsite and field staff.
500 hand sanitizers distributed.
45 employees on the COVID-19 response EOC team.
Suspended shutting off power for customers who don’t pay their SMUD bills.
March 13
We suspended shutting off power for customers who can’t pay their SMUD bills to ensure that our most vulnerable residential and business customers continue to have access to power. We also reduced documentation required to apply for our low-income Energy Assistance Program Rate and paused the recertification process for EAPR and MEDRate customers who would otherwise be asked to provide updated income documentation. Recognizing the significant impact COVID-19 has had on our customers and community, we extended the suspension of disconnections and late fees to Jan. 4, 2021.
Published a dedicated webpage at smud.org/Coronavirus.
We published a dedicated webpage at smud.org/Coronavirus with extensive online resources for customers’ account-related activities, including paying bills, setting up payment arrangements, finding energy-saving tips and resources, getting Bill Alerts, signing up for our low-income energy assistance program and much more.
Established regular COVID-19 employee email updates, starting with daily emails for the 1st several weeks.
March 15
11.3% clicks on email links.
Announced critical decisions about remote work, travel restriction extension and additional closures. Launched the COVID-19 response iNet resource site.
March 16
Released the “Stay well” educational campaign, which was developed in just 24 hours and featured radio, print, TV, digital and billboards. The goal: Educate our customers and the community about the changes and measures we’ve put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Transitioned the EOC to Level 3 and closed SMUD campuses to the public while continuing to keep the lights on for our community.
March 17
Arlen shared a video blog from the EOC. It would be the 1st of a series of weekly blogs.
March 19
Launched SMUD Shares for employees to stay connected and share photos and stories about how they’re coping in this new work world.
March 20
Experienced peak remote user logins with 1,446 users remotely accessing SMUD’s systems via Citrix and VPN connections.
Developed virtual learning resources through our Energy Education & Technology Center in partnership with the National Energy Education Development (NEED) to provide K-12 educational resources for at-home learning with lesson plans for parents now responsible for teaching their children at home.
March 30
Shared economic impacts and proactive financial measures. CEO & General Manager Arlen Orchard informed employees via email and later video blogs about proactive steps SMUD is taking to minimize the financial impact of COVID-19 on our business. Key actions included a hiring freeze through 2020, a reduction in our travel budget and some program budget cuts. Together, the proactive measures free up funds and provide operational flexibility.
April 1
Launched a new COVID-19 Paid Leave program offering employees up to 80 hours of paid leave for COVID-19-related circumstances and up to $10,000 in paid leave to care for children due to COVID-19-related school and childcare closures. The program is similar to the federal government provisions under the Paid Sick Leave and Expanded Family and Medical Leave that was part of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.
April 9
Started a program to give temporary reassignments to employees impacted by COVID-19. We reassessed priorities and workload to identify areas where additional resources were needed and where employees from other areas could leverage their knowledge, skills and availability to assist.
April 15
April 16
Sequestered about 45 employees on SMUD campuses to minimize potential COVID-19 exposure. Sequestered employees included power system operators, distribution system operators and energy traders. They were sequestered for 2-week periods through May 8, lodging in RVs set up in the 59th Street and EC-OC parking lots. Care and Connect resource packets featuring helpful information about how to prepare for sequestration were provided to the impacted employees and their families.
Held SMUD’s first virtual Board meeting to bring all 7 members of the SMUD Board of Directors together to hear from staff about our COVID-19 response, have meaningful dialogue and hear from the public through emailed comments.
April 23
Launched a new Catastrophic Leave donation program to support employees during COVID-19. The program was created for employees who have exhausted or are about to exhaust COVID-19 Paid Leave and their personal leave balances and who were unable to work for COVID-19 related reasons.
Started planning for employees’ gradual and phased re-entry into the workplace.
April 28
May 6
Moved the EOC activation to Level 2, which reduced the number of people on-site and the frequency of EOC meetings as SMUD continued to prepare for a phased, gradual re-entry of SMUD employees back to campuses.
Moved the EOC activation down to Level 1, with telephone conference calls and periodic meetings as needed.
May 26
We announced critical decisions on remote work, the extension of travel restrictions and additional closures. Employees were directed to work remotely whenever possible, and travel and meeting restrictions were extended thorough April. We also closed onsite Fitness Centers and the Lighthouse Child Development Center.
Suspended shutting off power for customers who can’t pay their SMUD bills to ensure that our most vulnerable residential and business customers continue to have access to power. We also reduced documentation required to apply for our low-income Energy Assistance Program Rate and paused the recertification process for EAPR and MEDRate customers who would otherwise be asked to provide updated income documentation Recognizing the significant impact COVID-19 has had on our customers and community, we extended the suspension of disconnections and late fees to Jan. 4, 2021.
Heard from our CEO & General Manager in his first COVID-19 video blog from the EOC. Arlen shared important information, key decisions and connected with employees through this rapidly evolving and unfamiliar situation through a weekly video blog series.
600 additional CITRIX remote login licenses purchased by IT to support employees working remotely. 700+ technology-related work requests responded to as a result of COVID-19. More than 1,000 Skype and Microsoft Teams meetings each day, compared to about 300 Skype meetings before COVID-19.
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When the EOC is Level 1, it's not occupied. EOC teams remain in regular contact via telephone and/or periodic meetings to share situation updates.
When the EOC is Level 2, it's occupied by selected departments to provide logistical support and coordination.
When the EOC is Level 2, it's occupied by selected departments to provide logistical support or coordination.
When the EOC is Level 3, it's fully staffed onsite by all departments assigned to the EOC. The EOC is staffed in person during normal business hours. All major response coordination and direction comes from the EOC.
Established regular COVID-19 employee email updates to consistently deliver critical information and keep employees connected, informed and educated about COVID-19 and SMUD’s response. All updates include photos submitted by employees and wellness information.
60 employee emails sent through July 7.
73.4% email open rate.
Top 5 links clicked: 1,231 clicks: COVID-19 time entry guidelines. 1,078 clicks: See how we’re staying connected during COVID-19 (SMUD Shares). 886 clicks: Arlen answers employee question: What would trigger layoffs? 809 clicks: March 13: Key decisions about social distancing guidelines, meeting restrictions and remote work. 792 clicks: Arlen discusses planning for reopening SMUD campuses.
Released the Future work at SMUD: Re-entry and beyond playbook to give all employees guidance and direction to help everyone work safely on-site, guide the re-entry to our campus environments and minimize the risk of COVID-19. And we created on-demand training to prepare employees for re-entry.
June 26
SMUD and the nation's response to COVID-19 is far from over. As we look to the future of work at SMUD, remote work provides an excellent option to keep our employees safe and productive at the same time. We've started to establish remote work agreements for employees where it makes sense for them and SMUD. The road ahead will require us to all remain flexible, always keeping the safety of our employees and the public as our first priority in this rapidly changing situation.
Created Pandemic Social Distancing Strategy and Guidelines.
It’s hard to believe how much has happened since our first communication on Feb. 6, 2020 about COVID-19.
“With 2 active soccer players and my husband being a soccer coach, these kids have no choice but to do some agility training in the garage,” says Product Service Specialist Leslie Adorno De Chancing.
Kimberly Almeida’s coworker, 10-month-old Maxwell, is having trouble with ergonomics while working from home. “I keep trying to keep him in the green zone,” she says. By the look of it, he’s starting to catch on.
Matthew Anthony of Grid Assets says that after his family’s camping trip got canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they made do. “We had a great time with s’mores included. At the beginning, I was going in and out of the house but was soon instructed by the kids to pretend the house wasn’t there. The masks and 6-foot social distancing was staged for levity.”
SMUD Shares
In March, we asked employees to give us a glimpse of how they’re coping in a new world brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. They heeded the call and we were offered a window into what each of our new normal looks like. We learned about each other’s new “office mates,” the trials of homeschooling, wellness lessons learned and more! Here’s some of what we received.
“Not sure if today is Bring Your Child to Work Day or Back to School Night,” says Courtney Beal of Revenue Operations.
Koral Brooks of Employee Relations and her son are getting creative with cardboard. “Levi (who turns 4 next month) highly recommends building spaceships out of cardboard boxes.” Remember: Let your delivery boxes sit for 24 hours before repurposing them or give them a thorough disinfectant wipe-down
Nwana Brown of Business Process Support says she’s gone back to an old hobby, crocheting. “I’ve picked my crochet hooks back up and made blankets for my grandbabies.”
Kim Camatti of Procurement, Warehouse & Fleet teamed up with the Sacramento Area COVID-19 Mask Makers group and spearheaded SMUD’s volunteer mask making efforts for medical personnel. “Rather than focusing on negative thoughts, I wanted to channel energy into something positive for our community,” she says.
Norma Cano of Financial Services says, “The adjustment to work at home has been pretty smooth, except my cat Jemma has not grasped the idea of social distancing."
Gina Cecil of Revenue Assurance says, “I walked into my ‘office’ yesterday morning to log in, and I found my cat sitting on the pullout keyboard holder. She looked like she wanted to work, so I just couldn’t get mad at her.”
Stopping to smell the roses. Taking time between meetings to check in and smell the roses,” says IT Business Relationship Manager Michael Fasse. “I took the selfie to encourage my friends, co-workers and family to do the same and to always remember a favorite analogy of mine: Roses grow where you plant and feed them.”
Says Gary Ferguson of Community Engagement, “Among the benefits of having everything delivered to the house while sheltering-in-place are cheap cat beds. When our 15-year-old cat, Silver, gets tired of playing hide-and-seek in the boxes, she uses them to take naps.” Remember: Let your delivery boxes sit for 24 hours before repurposing them or give them a thorough disinfectant wipe-down
“My family and I have been enjoying the views from the SMUD live Eagle camera. I hope that others are enjoying it as much as we are,” says Denise Holland of Advanced Energy Solutions.
Brian Howell of Workforce & Enterprise Services is proud of the kids in his Vacaville neighborhood. They created a “Neighborhood Needs” table where neighbors can give what they can and take what they need.
Between meetings, I check in on my son’s schoolwork,” says Learning, Development & Culture Manager and Business Partner Sharon Huntsman. “Today, I found him in math class wearing Nerf glasses, and looking at his Chromebook sideways. When I asked him why, he paused, shrugged and said, ‘Why not?’ Why not, indeed.”
This is Katy, the newest member of SMUD’s SCORCH team,” says SMUD Cares Program Manager Trish Lindvall. “Katy makes sure I have proper distance from my desk so I don’t rest my wrists on my desk.”
Anish Mehra of Grid Assets shared a photo of his then 7-month-old son, who he calls his breaktime buddy. “Either I will bring him to my office or I will go wherever he is during my breaks,” he says.
Says Supervising CSR Tiffany Mcrae in Customer Care, “Kaleb and Kelvin chalk it up by bending the rules a bit with a not-so-ordinary approach to chalk art! This was such a fun and simple way to help them pass the time right from the comfort of our backyard.”
Pandora LaFountain of Grid Assets says “Working from home came with challenges, as I acclimated to remote technology and not working in the same space as coworkers and internal customers. Remote work did, however, come with a new boss, who keeps me focused. Nothing gets by Boss JAX! I have now adjusted to my new environment and Boss JAX ensures productivity; however, I look forward to returning to the EC-OC and working face-to-face again.”
Walter Laughlin of Workforce & Enterprise Services says “We witnessed 12 ducklings come out of their nest for the first time and take a dip in the pool. They are absolutely adorable and the kids have had a lot of fun taking pictures and videos of our new ‘pets’.”
Says Phyllis Lee in Grid Operations: “I’ve been sewing for many years and since I'm not wanting to venture out, I had to learn to make bias tape for these face masks. Luckily, I have tools, fabric and the internet!”
Liz Schuttinger of Grid Assets says her kids’ grandparents stepped up to help out. “In addition to math and physics lessons from their grandfather, their paternal grandmother is teaching them French, and my mom is teaching them art.”
Corporate Communications’ Eileen Secor was heading downstairs to her “office” to start her workday when she spotted an unusual creature at the breakroom table. Apparently, dragons love cinnamon toast cereal. Who knew?
Erin Sabin of the Executive Office says, “My kitty has decided the new chair is for her.”
José Ortega of Billing Operations shared his son Elias’ chalk art project he created to spread positivity in his neighborhood.
Tom Moore of Facilities shared a comical version of a standing workstation. He says, “It works great for standing during Skype meetings.”
Leah Pertl of Advance Energy Solutions shared how her team put on a drive-by parade and left birthday presents for a teammate while practicing social distancing. She says, . “It was a nice opportunity for everyone to see each other, from a distance.”
“Need a break from studying? Quincy enjoys getting some sun with some chalk art outside,” says Brittany Woodard of Retail Product Delivery & Sales.
Mee Vue of Graphics shared the pretty poppies outside her home workspace.
Manager of Warehouse Operations Joshua Williams says his office mate – then 2-year-old Riley – is already requesting one-on-ones.
Jennifer Winchell of Grid Assets says “Learning remotely has been pretty hard on my 13-year-old daughter Madeleine, as she missed being with her friends…She is making do with daily video calls with her class sand the company of our sweet kitty, Lexi.”
Andrew Cuthbert of Warehouse Operations says, “This picture is a funny exaggeration of how Hazmat is protecting ourselves from the coronavirus.”
Courtney Dilly of Advanced Energy Solutions started maternity leave prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. “I feel like I’ve been in quarantine for the past 6 weeks with our newest addition – though that is the best kind of quarantine!”
Says Lisa Ennis of Community Development, Outreach & Education, “Every time I listen to any of Arlen’s videos, my cat Vera Wang loves to jump up on the table and watch. She must like the sound of his voice.”
Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Davidson shared this photo of her safely holding her first grandchild, Benjamin, who was born on June 25. She says, “While COVID-19 means some things are anything but normal, like our baby-cuddling prep ritual, we’re over the moon to be grandparents.”
Information Technology’s Mysti Freyenberger and 6-year-old Diesel enjoy Human Resources, Diversity & Inclusion Program Manager Krishna Khalsa’s online Kundalini yoga and meditation class. She says the class is “a great way to relax and become centered with everything going on.” In case you’re wondering, the class is held from 11 a.m. to noon on Fridays.
Martha Helak of Legal says, “Here is a picture of my dog, Shiloh, taking a nap. She is making the most of my working from home.”
"These are not the droids you’re looking for! This is my silly pup, Pippin,” says Management Analyst Laurie Johnson. “He’s a character as he continually makes me laugh with his antics during this time. Definitely a de-stressor.”
Lourdes Jimenez-Price of Legal says, “This photo was taken on May 7, when I donated a pint of blood wearing my SMUD Cares volunteer t-shirt. Consider donating blood if you are healthy.”
“I was a happy camper when I discovered that my Wi-Fi extended to my outdoor deck,” says Program Manager for Human Resources, Diversity & Inclusion Krishna Khalsa. “I enjoyed catching up on Arlen’s videos outside!”
Jenna Maddock of Advance Energy Solutions says her dogs “Max and Frankie make it hard to get anything done! They insist on sitting under my desk!”
Blake Richardson of Corporate Communications says his new remote office co-worker, Rylan prefers naps to work. Here he is early into the pandemic, at a whopping 2 weeks old.
Jenny Rodriquez from Retail Product Delivery & Sales says she caught her new “co-workers” sleeping on the job. “I had to report this to my boss – not sure if he’ll be too happy with them,” she joked. “Maybe it was just time for an after-lunch snooze fest!”
Customer Operation's Tara Porter says, "I am working from home with my 9-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son. We’ve created a makeshift office where my daughter does her schoolwork and I work.”
Roopali Shaw of Retail Product Delivery & Sales shared this adorable video, saying “Here’s a movie of my new co-worker, Amira (age 2). She insists on showing off during our Break for Eights.”
Business Planning Analyst Stephanie Shiu says “During the pandemic I’ve been doing at home workouts. My 11-month-old puppy thinks that when I lie on the yoga mat, it’s a place for him to sleep!”
Juliet Swinger says, “I realized that working from home I was not getting my normal steps/activity in. So I purchased a new bike and have been hitting the bike trail on my lunch breaks or after work! I even got a special seat so my co-worker can join.”
Connie Samla of the Energy Education & Technology Center says, “I have a private home office I thought – at least until my dog Zylie showed up with her own sign.”
Lindsay Vanlaningham of Social Media says, “This is my office buddy, Kona, who has no concept of bubble space, but is slowly learning about social distancing.”
“My boys and I got tired of our overgrown dos so we shaved our heads,” says Customer Service Representative Amy Twardosz. “This photo is the week after. I didn’t know how grey I am! At least we’re staying cool in the warmer weather.”
Christine Vose of Retail Products, Delivery & Sales says, “Several of my co-workers in Retail Product Delivery and Sales and I have been meeting up on Saturdays – social distancing of course – to get some exercise and stay in touch. We’ve gone to Rancho Seco and done the Howard Trail hike.”
Anna Marie Will of Finance & Treasury says, “While working remotely, I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to take my lunch breaks in my yard. I don’t usually have company, but this afternoon I had an unexpected guest — a duckling was paddling around my pool.”
Brandi Yang of Customer Value, Performance & Projects says, “I found my kids in my office like this. They told me they were playing SMUD."
Ana Zavoras of Customer Services shared a funny take on a pup mask saying her dogs Dexter and Charlie are “always keeping safe.”
Facilities’ Paul Lemieux jokes his dog, Tucker, is thinking, “Social distance camping is tough!”
In response to COVID-19, we hustled to quickly produce TV commercials and several videos for social media and smud.org to let our customers know we’re here to help them get through difficult times. We shared resources and let our community know how to help keep our crews safe.
The videos that helped our community
Through 2 30-second commercials -- titled "Stay Well" and "We're Here to Help" -- featuring both English and Spanish versions, we shared our efforts to keep the lights on and support our customers and community during unprecedented times. And, most of all, that we want them to be safe and stay well.
2 commercials
By sharing 2 3-part series of videos showcasing our field staff, we let our customers and community know we’re keeping the lights on while practicing social distancing. We encouraged them to do their part to help our field staff stay safe.
6 social distancing videos
In addition to sharing social distancing videos on social media, we let our customers know we wouldn’t be disconnecting power due to nonpayment during this difficult time and shared the assistance programs and resources that could help them navigate the pandemic.
More on social media
