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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