Energy
Tesla under the gun to create jobs at Gigafactory 2 in Buffalo, NY as countdown begins
Tesla’s Gigafactory 2 in Buffalo, NY was dubbed fully complete by state and company officials this past April, starting a countdown clock for Tesla to provide 1,460 jobs to Buffalo, NY within the next two years. Failure to do so could result in fines of up to $41.2 million for every year that it does not meet this employment goal.
When Tesla received support from the state worth $750 million to build and equip the solar factory, the company committed to providing 5,000 jobs to the state of New York within the next ten years. These job-creation targets have evolved over the years, particularly when SolarCity was acquired by Tesla. The state of New York’s original agreement with SolarCity required the company to provide 1,460 jobs at the solar factory and another 1,440 jobs at suppliers and service providers in the Buffalo region. This gave SolarCity a target of providing 2,900 jobs for local workers.
Once Tesla took over, the requirement to bring in 1,440 suppliers was waived by the state. The revised agreement with New York included requirements for Tesla to create 1,460 jobs in Buffalo within two years after the factory is complete, including 500 manufacturing jobs at Gigafactory 2. In a statement to The Buffalo News, Tesla officials stated that the company had already surpassed the first employment target — one that required Tesla to create 500 jobs by April 2019. By meeting this target, Tesla is now tasked to more than double the number of jobs it created so far, in order to meet the state’s April 2020 deadline.
Tesla’s Gigafactory 2 might seem almost dormant amidst the company’s push to ramp the production of the Model 3, but the electric car and energy company maintains that it intends to produce its solar products at a larger scale in the Buffalo facility within the coming quarters. Before its Q2 2018 earnings call, CTO JB Straubel stated that Tesla is “aggressively ramping” the production of its residential solar products, which are manufactured at the New York factory. Straubel also stated that production of the Solar Roofs are expected to accelerate in 2019, as residential installations of the shingles are rolled out to reservation holders.
The Tesla executive reiterated this statement in the company’s second-quarter earnings call, stating that while the company’s electric car business is bigger today, the growth of Tesla Energy is faster. Elon Musk even noted that Tesla Energy would likely catch up to the electric car business’ size in the future.
“Yeah, if you extrapolate energy growth rate, well, obviously, if you extrapolate anything when that triples for a year pretty soon becomes the size of the universe, but long-term we would expect the energy business to catch up to the auto business in size,” Musk said.
Tesla’s Gigafactory 2 in Buffalo, NY is tasked with the production of the company’s Solar Roof tiles, which, together with the Powerwall 2 home battery, are part of the company’s initiative to help customers achieve “sustainable energy independence.” At full capacity, Tesla’s Gigafactory 2 is expected to manufacture 1 GW worth of solar products every year. In classic Elon Musk fashion, the CEO gave a more optimistic forecast for the facility back in 2016, stating that he estimates the factory to be capable of producing as much as 10 GW worth of solar products annually.
Energy
Tesla meets Giga New York’s Buffalo job target amid political pressures
Giga New York reported more than 3,460 statewide jobs at the end of 2025, meeting the benchmark tied to its dollar-a-year lease.
Tesla has surpassed its job commitments at Giga New York in Buffalo, easing pressure from lawmakers who threatened the company with fines, subsidy clawbacks, and dealership license revocations last year.
The company reported more than 3,460 statewide jobs at the end of 2025, meeting the benchmark tied to its dollar-a-year lease at the state-built facility.
As per an employment report reviewed by local media, Tesla employed 2,399 full-time workers at Gigafactory New York and 1,060 additional employees across the state at the end of 2025. Part-time roles pushed the total headcount of Tesla’s New York staff above the 3,460-job target.
The gains stemmed in part from a new Long Island service center, a Buffalo warehouse, and additional showrooms in White Plains and Staten Island. Tesla also said it has invested $350 million in supercomputing infrastructure at the site and has begun manufacturing solar panels.
Empire State Development CEO Hope Knight said the agency was “very happy” with Giga New York’s progress, as noted in a WXXI report. The current lease runs through 2029, and negotiations over updated terms have included potential adjustments to job requirements and future rent payments.
Some lawmakers remain skeptical, however. Assemblymember Pat Burke questioned whether the reported job figures have been fully verified. State Sen. Patricia Fahy has also continued to sponsor legislation that would revoke Tesla’s company-owned dealership licenses in New York. John Kaehny of Reinvent Albany has argued that the project has not delivered the manufacturing impact originally promised as well.
Knight, for her part, maintained that Empire State Development has been making the best of a difficult situation.
“(Empire State Development) has tried to make the best of a very difficult situation. There hasn’t been another use that has come forward that would replace this one, and so to the extent that we’re in this place, the fact that 2,000 families at (Giga New York) are being supported through the activity of this employer. It’s the best that we can have happen,” the CEO noted.
Energy
Tesla launches Cybertruck vehicle-to-grid program in Texas
The initiative was announced by the official Tesla Energy account on social media platform X.
Tesla has launched a vehicle-to-grid (V2G) program in Texas, allowing eligible Cybertruck owners to send energy back to the grid during high-demand events and receive compensation on their utility bills.
The initiative, dubbed Powershare Grid Support, was announced by the official Tesla Energy account on social media platform X.
Texas’ Cybertruck V2G program
In its post on X, Tesla Energy confirmed that vehicle-to-grid functionality is “coming soon,” starting with select Texas markets. Under the new Powershare Grid Support program, owners of the Cybertruck equipped with Powershare home backup hardware can opt in through the Tesla app and participate in short-notice grid stress events.
During these events, the Cybertruck automatically discharges excess energy back to the grid, supporting local utilities such as CenterPoint Energy and Oncor. In return, participants receive compensation in the form of bill credits. Tesla noted that the program is currently invitation-only as part of an early adopter rollout.
The launch builds on the Cybertruck’s existing Powershare capability, which allows the vehicle to provide up to 11.5 kW of power for home backup. Tesla added that the program is expected to expand to California next, with eligibility tied to utilities such as PG&E, SCE, and SDG&E.
Powershare Grid Support
To participate in Texas, Cybertruck owners must live in areas served by CenterPoint Energy or Oncor, have Powershare equipment installed, enroll in the Tesla Electric Drive plan, and opt in through the Tesla app. Once enrolled, vehicles would be able to contribute power during high-demand events, helping stabilize the grid.
Tesla noted that events may occur with little notice, so participants are encouraged to keep their Cybertrucks plugged in when at home and to manage their discharge limits based on personal needs. Compensation varies depending on the electricity plan, similar to how Powerwall owners in some regions have earned substantial credits by participating in Virtual Power Plant (VPP) programs.
Tesla is updating Cybertruck owners on its timeline of a massive feature that has yet to ship: Powershare with Powerwall.
Powershare is a bidirectional charging feature exclusive to Cybertruck, which allows the vehicle’s battery to act as a portable power source for homes, appliances, tools, other EVs, and more. It was announced in late 2023 as part of Tesla’s push into vehicle-to-everything energy sharing, and acting as a giant portable charger is the main advantage, as it can provide backup power during outages.
Cybertruck’s Powershare system supports both vehicle-to-load (V2L) and vehicle-to-home (V2H), making it flexible and well-rounded for a variety of applications.
However, even though the feature was promised with Cybertruck, it has yet to be shipped to vehicles. Tesla communicated with owners through email recently regarding Powershare with Powerwall, which essentially has the pickup act as an extended battery.
Powerwall discharge would be prioritized before tapping into the truck’s larger pack.
However, Tesla is still working on getting the feature out to owners, an email said:
“We’re writing to let you know that the Powershare with Powerwall feature is still in development and is now scheduled for release in mid-2026.
This new release date gives us additional time to design and test this feature, ensuring its ability to communicate and optimize energy sharing between your vehicle and many configurations and generations of Powerwall. We are also using this time to develop additional Powershare features that will help us continue to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.”
Owners have expressed some real disappointment in Tesla’s continuous delays in releasing the feature, as it was expected to be released by late 2024, but now has been pushed back several times to mid-2026, according to the email.
Foundation Series Cybertruck buyers paid extra, expecting the feature to be rolled out with their vehicle upon pickup.
Cybertruck’s Lead Engineer, Wes Morrill, even commented on the holdup:
As a Cybertruck owner who also has Powerwall, I empathize with the disappointed comments.
To their credit, the team has delivered powershare functionality to Cybertruck customers who otherwise have no backup with development of the powershare gateway. As well as those with solar…
— Wes (@wmorrill3) December 12, 2025
He said that “it turned out to be much harder than anticipated to make powershare work seamlessly with existing Powerwalls through existing wall connectors. Two grid-forming devices need to negotiate who will form and who will follow, depending on the state of charge of each, and they need to do this without a network and through multiple generations of hardware, and test and validate this process through rigorous certifications to ensure grid safety.”
It’s nice to see the transparency, but it is justified for some Cybertruck owners to feel like they’ve been bait-and-switched.
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