Connect with us

Published

on

Tesla’s Virtual Power Plant program, a way for Powerwall owners to make money selling energy to the grid in times of need, is rolling out to San Diego Gas & Electric utility customers now.

SDG&E announced late last month the start of its own virtual power plant (VPP) program which would leverage household backup batteries and smart devices to reduce demand and increase supply of electricity to the grid during “demand response” events – when the grid is stressed and needs to spin up extra capacity to keep the lights on.

However, Tesla’s program is separate from SDG&E’s, even though it’s part of the same service area.

Demand response events are often expensive, because the price of a blackout is high, and the price of marginal electricity generation (often via gas peaker plants) is costly both economically and environmentally. During last year’s record heat wave, the wholesale spot price of electricity got as high as ~$2,000/MWh in parts of the state (as of the writing of this article, the price is currently ~$49/MWh).

A home or business with access to energy storage might want to leverage that storage by buying electricity while it’s cheap, and then discharging it to the grid while it’s very expensive. While this is possible on a home-to-home basis by arbitraging cheap off-peak energy and using it during on-peak times, it isn’t really great for widespread grid events unless several home storage systems can be joined together.

What does a Virtual Power Plant do?

Enter the VPP, which combines thousands of internet connected devices across a wide area and manages them all together in order to make a significant difference on the grid in times of need.

SDG&E has been running its own pilot VPP program since December, which has been tested 17 times. Participants get a message that a demand response event is coming and can choose to opt-out for certain devices (for example, to keep their air conditioning running at full blast). SDG&E says that the opt-out rate has been very low so far, suggesting that participants are happy to do their part when the grid is in need.

We saw similar behavior statewide in California last year when the grid faced its highest level of demand ever recorded on an exceptionally hot day. California’s grid operator sent out a text message to everyone in the state asking them to conserve energy, and Californians reduced their energy use by multiple gigawatts in mere minutes, thus saving the grid from overloading statewide.

But with a virtual power plant, participation doesn’t need to be voluntary, it can be automatic (for those who have signed up). And in exchange for the valuable benefit of helping to avoid blackouts by adding electricity to the grid when it is most expensive, VPP participants can be paid for their service.

We’ve already seen this happening with one of the largest and earliest VPPs out there, Tesla’s VPP in Northern California, in the service area of Pacific Gas & Electric. We saw participants receive checks of up to $575 for their first year of participation in the program.

Growth of Tesla VPP as it expands to San Diego

Tesla’s VPP program has been growing. Last time we checked in last year, it was capable of providing 50 MW across California, which is about as much as one average gas peaker plant (the state has about 7GW of gas peaker capacity total). This was right after Tesla opened up the program to SoCal Edison customers.

As of now, the site we were using to track growth has changed its measurements a little, but it looks like the system can provide ~116MWh of potential backup energy – so as much as running two gas peaker plants for an hour or so.

And as of now, Tesla Powerwall owners in San Diego can join the Virtual Power Plant program by enrolling through the same Tesla app which they use to manage their Powerwall.

All owners need to do is open up their app to the Powerwall page and tap on the “Virtual Power Plant” item, which should be at the top of the list, as seen below:

Tesla will provide an estimate of how much you can earn by participating in the program, based on the size of your system and your standard usage. Of course this is just an estimate, and you can always change your settings or usage to try to maximize this number, especially on days where demand response events are likely (e.g., hot days in California, which tend to stress the grid the most due to overuse of air conditioning).

In addition to California’s struggles with hot weather events (which are worsening due to climate change), SDG&E has rather wide time-of-use rates, with super off-peak rates of 24 cents per kWh, raising as high as 70-80 cents during on-peak times. This makes Powerwalls more attractive due to the possibility of energy arbitrage – and even more attractive during demand response events, where effective wholesale rates can go much higher than that.

Tesla also is also working on rolling out VPPs to Texas and Puerto Rico, and has another massive VPP in South Australia, an area which has been struggling with electricity issues for years now.

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Continue Reading

Environment

Wheel-E Podcast: Lectric XP4, new RadRunners, Tariff troubles, more

Published

on

By

Wheel-E Podcast: Lectric XP4, new RadRunners, Tariff troubles, more

This week on Electrek’s Wheel-E podcast, we discuss the most popular news stories from the world of electric bikes and other nontraditional electric vehicles. This time, that includes the launch of the Lectric XP4 e-bike, a new set of RadRunners from Rad Power Bikes, California’s e-bike voucher program hits more hurdles, the effect of Trump tariffs on several e-bike and e-moto companies, and more.

The Wheel-E podcast returns every two weeks on Electrek’s YouTube channel, Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter.

As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.

After the show ends, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:

Advertisement – scroll for more content

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Overcast

Pocket Casts

Castro

RSS

We also have a Patreon if you want to help us to avoid more ads and invest more in our content. We have some awesome gifts for our Patreons and more coming.

Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the Wheel-E podcast today:

Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 8:00 a.m. ET (or the video after 9:00 a.m. ET):

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Continue Reading

Environment

AUSA adds new, rough terrain electric forklift to its line of construction EVs

Published

on

By

AUSA adds new, rough terrain electric forklift to its line of construction EVs

Last month’s bauma event in Germany was so big that the industry hive mind is still trying to digest everything it saw – and that includes these new, rough terrain electric material handlers from Spanish equipment brand AUSA!

AUSA calls itself, “the global manufacturer of compact all-terrain machines for the transportation and handling of material,” and backs that claim up by delivering more than 12,000 units to customers each year. Now, the company hopes to add to that number with the launch of the C151E rough-terrain electric forklift, which takes its rightful place alongside AUSA’s electric telehandler and 101/151 lines of mini dumpers.

The C151 features a 15.5 kWh li-ion battery pack good for “one intense shift” worth of work, sending electrons to a 19.5 kW (approx. 25 hp) electric motor and the associated forks, tilt cylinders, etc. Charging is through a “standard” CCS L1/2 AC port, which can recharge the big electric forklift to 80% in about 2.5 hours.

Looked at another way: even if you drive the battery to nearly nothing, the AUSA can be charged up during a lunch break or shift change and ready to work again as soon as you reach for it.

Advertisement – scroll for more content

AUSA electric forklift charging

The 6,040 lb. (empty) AUSA C151E has a 3,000-pound maximum load capacity and a maximum lift height just over 13 feet.

“It is an ideal tool for working in emission-free spaces such as greenhouses, municipal night works, enclosed spaces, etc.,” reads AUSA’s press material. “It can be used in more applications than a traditional rough terrain forklift, offering greater performance as a result.”

Electrek’s Take

AUSA C151E electric rough terrain forklift; via AUSA.
AUSA C151E electric rough terrain forklift; via AUSA.

AUSA’s messaging is spot-on here: because you can use the C151E – in fact, any electric equipment asset – is a broader set of environments and circumstances than a diesel asset, you can earn more work, get a higher utilization rate, and maximize not only your fuel savings, but generate income you couldn’t generate without it.

“More, more, and more” is how a smart fleet operator is looking at battery power right now, and that’s the angle, not the “messy middle,” that the industry needs to be talking about.

SOURCE | IMAGES: AUSA, via Equipment World.

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Continue Reading

Environment

The aluminum sector isn’t moving to the U.S. despite tariffs — due to one key reason

Published

on

By

The aluminum sector isn't moving to the U.S. despite tariffs — due to one key reason

HAWESVILLE, KY – May 10

Plant workers drive along an aluminum potline at Century Aluminum Company’s Hawesville plant in Hawesville, Ky. on Wednesday, May 10, 2017. (Photo by Luke Sharrett /For The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Aluminum

The Washington Post | The Washington Post | Getty Images

Sweeping tariffs on imported aluminum imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump are succeeding in reshaping global trade flows and inflating costs for American consumers, but are falling short of their primary goal: to revive domestic aluminum production.

Instead, rising costs, particularly skyrocketing electricity prices in the U.S. relative to global competitors, are leading to smelter closures rather than restarts.

The impact of aluminum tariffs at 25% is starkly visible in the physical aluminum market. While benchmark aluminum prices on the London Metal Exchange provide a global reference, the actual cost of acquiring the metal involves regional delivery premiums.

This premium now largely reflects the tariff cost itself.

In stark contrast, European premiums were noted by JPMorgan analysts as being over 30% lower year-to-date, creating a significant divergence driven directly by U.S. trade policy.

This cost will ultimately be borne by downstream users, according to Trond Olaf Christophersen, the chief financial officer of Norway-based Hydro, one of the world’s largest aluminum producers. The company was formerly known as Norsk Hydro.

“It’s very likely that this will end up as higher prices for U.S. consumers,” Christophersen told CNBC, noting the tariff cost is a “pass-through.” Shares of Hydro have collapsed by around 17% since tariffs were imposed.

Stock Chart IconStock chart icon

hide content

The downstream impact of the tariffs is already being felt by Thule Group, a Hydro customer that makes cargo boxes fitted atop cars. The company said it’ll raise prices by about 10% even though it manufactures the majority of the goods sold in the U.S locally, as prices of raw materials, such as steel and aluminum, have shot up.

But while tariffs are effectively leading to prices rise in the U.S., they haven’t spurred a revival in domestic smelting, the energy-intensive process of producing primary aluminum.

The primary barrier remains the lack of access to competitively priced, long-term power, according to the industry.

“Energy costs are a significant factor in the overall production cost of a smelter,” said Ami Shivkar, principal analyst of aluminum markets at analytics firm Wood Mackenzie.  “High energy costs plague the US aluminium industry, forcing cutbacks and closures.”

“Canadian, Norwegian, and Middle Eastern aluminium smelters typically secure long-term energy contracts or operate captive power generation facilities. US smelter capacity, however, largely relies on short-term power contracts, placing it at a disadvantage,” Shivkar added, noting that energy costs for U.S. aluminum smelters were about $550 per tonne compared to $290 per tonne for Canadian smelters.

Recent events involving major U.S. producers underscore this power vulnerability.

In March 2023, Alcoa Corp announced the permanent closure of its 279,000 metric ton Intalco smelter, which had been idle since 2020. Alcoa said that the facility “cannot be competitive for the long-term,” partly because it “lacks access to competitively priced power.”

Similarly, in June 2022, Century Aluminum, the largest U.S. primary aluminum producer, was forced to temporarily idle its massive Hawesville, Kentucky smelter – North America’s largest producer of military-grade aluminum – citing a “direct result of skyrocketing energy costs.”

Century stated the power cost required to run the facility had “more than tripled the historical average in a very short period,” necessitating a curtailment expected to last nine to twelve months until prices normalized.

The industry has also not had a respite as demand for electricity from non-industrial sources has risen in recent years.

Hydro’s Christophersen pointed to the artificial intelligence boom and the proliferation of data centers as new competitors for power. He suggested that new energy production capacity in the U.S., from nuclear, wind or solar, is being rapidly consumed by the tech sector.

“The tech sector, they have a much higher ability to pay than the aluminium industry,” he said, noting the high double-digit margins of the tech sector compared to the often low single-digit margins at aluminum producers. Hydro reported an 8.3% profit margin in the first quarter of 2025, an increase from the 3.5% it reported for the previous quarter, according to Factset data.

“Our view, and for us to build a smelter [in the U.S.], we would need cheap power. We don’t see the possibility in the current market to get that,” the CFO added. “The lack of competitive power is the reason why we don’t think that would be interesting for us.”

How the massive power draw of generative AI is overtaxing our grid

While failing to ignite domestic primary production, the tariffs are undeniably causing what Christophersen termed a “reshuffling of trade flows.”

When U.S. market access becomes more costly or restricted, metal flows to other destinations.

Christophersen described a brief period when exceptionally high U.S. tariffs on Canadian aluminum — 25% additional tariffs on top of the aluminum-specific tariffs — made exporting to Europe temporarily more attractive for Canadian producers. Consequently, more European metals would have made their way into the U.S. market to make up for the demand gap vacated by Canadian aluminum.

The price impact has even extended to domestic scrap metal prices, which have adjusted upwards in line with the tariff-inflated Midwest premium.

Hydro, also the world’s largest aluminum extruder, utilizes both domestic scrap and imported Canadian primary metal in its U.S. operations. The company makes products such as window frames and facades in the country through extrusion, which is the process of pushing aluminum through a die to create a specific shape.

“We are buying U.S. scrap [aluminium]. A local raw material. But still, the scrap prices now include, indirectly, the tariff cost,” Christophersen explained. “We pay the tariff cost in reality, because the scrap price adjusts to the Midwest premium.”

“We are paying the tariff cost, but we quickly pass it on, so it’s exactly the same [for us],” he added.

RBC Capital Markets analysts confirmed this pass-through mechanism for Hydro’s extrusions business, saying “typically higher LME prices and premiums will be passed onto the customer.”

This pass-through has occurred amid broader market headwinds, particularly downstream among Hydro’s customers.

RBC highlighted the “weak spot remains the extrusion divisions” in Hydro’s recent results and noted a guidance downgrade, reflecting sluggish demand in sectors like building and construction.

— CNBC’s Greg Kennedy contributed reporting.

Continue Reading

Trending