Coal may still be king just over the Washington, D.C., border in Virginia, but negawatts, renewables integration, and a transmission market open to newcomers are finding a room in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s sovereignty. In a review of his two years as chair of the commission, Jon Wellinghoff said the change in regulatory tactics is optimal. “If I work myself out of a job, then I’ve done a good job,” he said. While California may be ahead of most states in adopting negawatts through demand-response contracts, Wellinghoff said federal regulators are collaborating with states to allow more demand-response to shape load. Wellinghoff explained that FERC is “enabling” regions like California to allow competition for building new transmission systems, by putting aside the “right of first refusal” from traditional utilities. For integrating increased renewables, “storage is definitely an up-and-coming technology,” he said. Increased electricity storage would not only smooth out the intermittent nature of solar and wind production, but it could decrease reliance on major, and difficult-to-site, transmission lines. Wellinghoff pointed to San Diego Gas & Electric’s Sunrise Powerlink line as an example of just those complications. Sunrise is costing $15,000 per MW/mile, he noted because California takes into consideration environmental impacts. A new line in Texas cost $500/MW/mile. Wellinghoff wants the price of transmission to reflect more than just building new lines. Cost projections “are starting to get realistic,” he said. That includes adding alternatives, storage, and demand-response to the transmission equation.