Tesla has officially entered the Texas market as an energy provider, new documents from the Texas Public Utility Commission state.
In August, Tesla Energy had officially filed an application with the Texas Public Utility Commission to sell power in the Lone Star State. Initially reported by Texas Monthly, Tesla’s subsidiary known as Tesla Energy Ventures had filed to provide energy and retail electric services to several regions around Texas, including those served by ERCOT, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.
Now, a document from the Public Utility Commission has officially confirmed that Tesla is able to supply electricity to residents in the State. The document states:
“Tesla Energy Ventures has demonstrated: (a) it has the capability to comply with all applicable ERCOT policies, protocols, guidelines, procedures, and rules; (b) it has the capability to comply with all applicable ERCOT registration and certification requirements; (c) it will comply with all renewable energy portfolio standards; (d) its principals or permanent, managerial employees have at least 15 years combined experience in the competitive retail electric or gas industry; (e) it has at least one principal or permanent employee with five years of experience in energy commodity risk management of a substantial energy portfolio; (f) it has adequate staffing and employee training to meet all service level commitments; (g) it has the capability and effective procedures to be the primary point of contact for retail electric customers for distribution system service; and (h) it has a customer service plan that complies with the Commission’ s customer protection and anti-discrimination rules.”
As a result of these approvals, Tesla is now officially a certified energy provider in Texas. The story was initially reported by Gizmodo.
Tesla acts as an energy provider in several regions, most notably in South Australia at the Big Battery. It also has an active Virtual Power Plant in California that is currently in its Beta stages. Tesla’s energy program has unique advantages compared to traditional energy providers. Due to the company’s use of solar energy and energy storage systems, Tesla Energy users are more likely to avoid outages and blackouts, especially as the excess energy is stored in a Powerwall for residential or Powerpack and Megapack for commercial uses. Texas residents experienced widespread blackouts in February 2021.
Tesla Energy could end up being one of the company’s most valuable sectors. CEO Elon Musk has said for some time that he feels the Energy side of Tesla will be roughly the same size as its carmaking operation. “So, I mean, the energy business is collectively bigger than the automotive business,” Musk said during the Q2 2020 Earnings Call. “In order to achieve a sustainable energy future, we have to have sustainable energy generation, which I think is going to be primarily solar and followed by wind, and those are intermittent…The mission of Tesla is to accelerate sustainable energy, so I can’t emphasize enough. Yes, the battery and solar will both be enormous, and they kind of have to be in order to — for us to have a sustainable future.”
Tesla’s approval as an energy provider in Texas is available below.
Tesla Texas Energy Tesla Energy Ventures Application Approved by Joey Klender on Scribd
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Tesla Energy has become the undisputed dark horse of the electric vehicle maker. This was highlighted by Tesla Energy’s growing role in the company’s overall operations in the past quarters.
And as per Tesla’s year-end milestone posts on X, Tesla Energy had a blockbuster 2024.
Tesla Energy’s 2024 milestones:
- As per Tesla on its official social media account on X, the company has hit over 800,000 Powerwalls installed worldwide.
- From this number, over 100,000 Powerwall batteries have been enrolled in virtual power plant (VPP) programs.
- The Powerwall 3 has officially been launched in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, the U.K., Germany, Italy, Australia, and New Zealand.
- The Tesla Megapack hit over 22 GWh in operation across more than 60 countries across the globe.
- The Lathrop Megafactory, which produces the Megapack, has been ramped to 40 GWh per year.
- The Lathrop Megafactory has also produced its 10,000th Megapack battery.
- The Shanghai Megafactory was completed in just seven months, and it is ready to start Megapack production in Q1 2025.
Hit 800k Powerwalls installed worldwide
— Tesla (@Tesla) December 31, 2024
Also:
– Over 100k Powerwalls are now enrolled in VPP programs
– Launched Powerwall 3 in the US, Canada, Puerto Rico, UK, Germany, Italy, Australia & New Zealand
– Megapack hit 22+ GWh in operation across 60+ countries
– Ramped… pic.twitter.com/bE88DpeyTg
Powerwall owners’ 2024 impact:
- As per Tesla Energy, Powerwall owners generated a total of 4.5 TWh of solar energy globally in 2024. This was equivalent to powering a Model 3 for more than 17 billion miles.
- A total of 1.1 TWh of energy was stored in Powerwalls in 2024. This protected homes from over 5.8 million outages during the year.
- Tesla’s Storm Watch feature for Powerwall batteries covered 2.8 million severe weather events over the year.
- Powerwall owners saw collective savings of over $800 million on utility bills.
- Virtual Power Plants contributed over 2.2 GWh of power to the grid. This reduced the need for 2,200 metric tons of fossil fuel peaker plant emissions.
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Utah-based rPlus Energies recently held the groundbreaking ceremony for the Green River Energy Center, a 400 MW solar PV and 400 MW/1,600 MWh battery storage project in Eastern Utah. Tesla Megapacks will be used as the upcoming facility’s battery storage solution.
At 400 MW/1,600 MWh, the Green River Energy Center is expected to become one of the largest solar-plus-storage projects under development in the United States. Once operational, the facility would supply power to PacifiCorp under a power purchase agreement, as noted in a press release.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox shared his excitement for the project during the Green River Energy Center’s groundbreaking event. As per the Utah Governor, the solar and battery storage system represents a notable step forward for the state’s sustainable energy efforts.
NEWS: rPlus Energy has just broken ground on a new $362 million @Tesla Megapack battery energy storage system in Utah.
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) September 24, 2024
This 400 MW solar PV and 400 MW/1,600 MWh battery storage project is one of the largest solar-plus-storage projects under construction in the nation. The entire… pic.twitter.com/ubPOUnPWEf
“This project is being built in rural Utah, by rural Utahns, and for all of Utah. When rural Utah thrives, the entire state prospers. Today, we’re not just breaking ground—we’re building a future of affordable, abundant energy in Utah,” the official noted.
The Green River Energy Center secured over $1 billion in construction debt financing earlier this year. The facility is also expected to create about 500 jobs, many of which will be filled by local workers. With this in mind, the solar and battery farm would likely prove to be a boost to Emery County’s economy, enhancing tax revenue, strengthening public services, and offering long-term employment opportunities for the area’s residents.
Sundt Construction will serve as the project’s contractor, EliTe Solar will supply the solar modules, and Tesla will provide the battery storage system for the project. Luigi Resta, President and CEO of rPlus Energies, noted that the Green River Energy Center is special because of the entities that have worked together to make the facility a reality.
“It’s the partners that make this project special, that have made this monumental project possible. From our equipment providers to the onsite talent, and the support of the local and regional community, we owe this project’s success to each of you,” he stated.
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Tesla Energy is losing a director who brought Autobidder, a real-time trading and control platform that provides value-based asset management and portfolio optimization, to the company.
Rohan Ma, who has been at Tesla for just under eight years, announced he would depart the company on LinkedIn, aiming to take on a new opportunity elsewhere.
Ma posted:
“After eight years at Tesla, this will be my last week. It was a ride of a lifetime! Today, Tesla Energy is thriving and I can confidently say it’s in the best position it has ever been in to drive impact toward the original mission I signed up for. I’m proud to have contributed over the years to where it is now, and will be cheering the team on from the sidelines as they carry the torch forward and continue to relentlessly solve problems at the frontier of the energy transition.”
Ma started as the Senior Manager of Energy Optimization at Tesla back in November 2016. After four-and-a-half years at the position, he then moved on to a new role as the Director of Energy and Software Optimization. He has been in that role for over three years.
The exit of Ma is the latest in Tesla’s tough year in terms of losing high-level employees.
Earlier this year, as a part of widespread layoffs, Tesla eliminated up to 20 percent of its workforce and people like Rebecca Tinucci, who was the company’s Senior Director of EV Charging.
Tesla also lost Rohan Patel, Vice President of Global Public Policy and Business Development, and Martin Viecha, who was Head of Investor Relations, are just a few notables to depart.
Autobidder
Tesla’s Autobidder platform helps owners and operators make money by autonomously monetizing battery assets. It is a real-time trading and control platform that maximizes revenue according to business objectives and risk preferences.
Tesla Megapack, Autobidder to be deployed in big battery project in Queensland
Autobidder already has hundreds of megawatt-hours under management and continues to scale. It is hosted on Tesla’s secure cloud infrastructure that is engineered to handle large and complex computations.
Without Ma’s expertise, Autobidder would likely not be involved in Tesla’s Energy division at all, and although it is not frequently discussed, it is still a major part of the business’s growth over the past several years.
I’d love to hear from you! If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please email me at joey@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.
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