The Honorable Jon Wellinghoff, Commissioner, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Commissioner Wellinghoff is a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the agency that oversees wholesale electric transactions and interstate electric transmission and gas transportation in the United States. He was sworn in as a FERC commissioner by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on July 31, 2006.

Commissioner Wellinghoff is an energy law specialist, with over 30 years of experience in the field. Immediately before joining the Commission, Commissioner Wellinghoff was in private practice where focused exclusively on client matters related to renewable energy, energy efficiency and distributed generation. While in the private sector he represented an array of clients from federal agencies, renewable developers, and large consumers of power to energy efficient product manufacturers and clean energy advocacy organizations.

His experience also includes two terms as the State of Nevada’s first Consumer Advocate for Customers of Public Utilities. While serving in that role, Commissioner Wellinghoff represented Nevada’s utility consumers before the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada, the FERC, and in appeals before the Nevada Supreme Court. He authored the first comprehensive state utility integrated planning statute, which became a model for utility integrated planning processes across the country. He is also the primary author of the Nevada Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) act. The Nevada RPS is only one of 2 state renewable energy laws given an “A” rating by the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Commissioner Wellinghoff’s priorities at FERC include opening wholesale electric markets to renewable resources, providing a platform for participation of demand response and other distributed resources in wholesale electric markets, and promoting efficiency in our nation’s energy infrastructure. Commissioner Wellinghoff is serving as a co-chair of the Demand Response Collaborative launched jointly by FERC and the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. He also served as an advisor to the Defense Science Board’s Energy Policy Task Force.