Tesla launches ‘Tesla Electric’ to become an electricity retailer
Tesla has launched “Tesla Electric” to become an electricity retailer through its Powerwall owners – starting with some markets in Texas.
After gaining experience through its virtual power plants (VPPs), Tesla is taking things a step further with the launch of “Tesla Electric.”
Instead of reacting to specific “events” and providing services to your local electric utilities, like Tesla Powerwall owners have done in VPPs in California, Tesla Electric is actively and automatically buying and selling electricity for Tesla Powerwall owners – providing a buffer against peak prices.
It’s a special electric plan for Powerwall owners. Tesla writes about its new product on its website:
Solar and Powerwall can help you and your community accelerate the transition to sustainable energy. With Tesla Electric, your Powerwall automatically decides when to charge and when to sell electricity to the grid. Together with other Tesla Electric members, you can maximize the value of your solar energy while using your Powerwall storage to add more renewable electricity to the grid. You can also achieve your own sustainability goals when importing electricity from the grid, as Tesla Electric offsets your usage with energy from 100 percent renewable sources.
The company notes that Tesla Electric’s retail plan is currently only available by invitation to select customers in Texas.
Tesla has been working on this new product for a while now, and it is a big step toward the company’s goal to become a “global distributed clean electric utility,” and it is starting in Texas, a place that badly needs an electric utility revolution.
In May, we reported on Tesla lobbying for any homeowner with solar and batteries to participate in Texas’s energy market.
The company was asking for a rule change with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), an organization operating Texas’s electrical grid, that would enable electric utilities with customers with behind-the-meter solar and batteries, meaning people with residential solar, to bid on the extra capacity.
Earlier this week, we reported that Tesla received approval from ERCOT for “a statewide market design pilot for small distributed energy resources to provide grid service exports.”
It looks like the company was already ready to launch its new product.
Electrek’s Take
This looks closer to what Musk described when he said he wanted Tesla Energy to become “a distributed global utility and could outgrow automotive business.”
It is starting with Texas, but I assume that Tesla is going to want to expand this product everywhere it also sells Powerwalls.
I think it is going to be a difficult regulatory market to navigate, but it adds enough value that it should be adopted. It will require a lot of work, though.
Hopefully, this deployment in Texas will be successful and Tesla, or Tesla Electric now, can use it as an example for new markets.
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Chevron beat third-quarter earnings and revenue expectations, returning a record amount of cash to shareholders.
Shares were up 2.6% in the premarket following the report’s release.
The oil major’s quarterly profit, however, declined substantially compared to the year-ago period due to lower margins on refined product sales, lower prices and the absence of favorable tax times.
Chevron is aiming to streamline its portfolio, with asset sales in Canada, Congo and Alaska expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2024. The company is also target $2 billion to $3 billion in cost reductions from 2024 through the end of 2026.
Here is what Chevron reported for the third quarter compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:
- Earnings per share: $2.51 adjusted, vs. $2.43 expected
- Revenue: $50.67 billion, vs. $48.99 billion expected
Chevron’s net income came in at $4.49 billion, or $2.48 per share, down 31% from $6.53 billion, or $3.48 per share, in the third quarter of 2023. When adjusted for foreign currency impacts, the company reported earnings of $2.51 per share, solidly topping Wall Street’s expectations for the quarter.
Chevron booked revenues of $50.67 billion, also beating Street expectations but declining 6% from the $54.1 billion reported in the third quarter last year.
The oil major returned a record $7.7 billion to shareholders in the quarter, including $4.7 billion in share buybacks and $2.9 billion in dividends.
Chevron produced 3.36 million oil-equivalent barrels per day in the quarter, a 7% increase over the third quarter of 2023, driven by record output in the Permian Basin.
Chevron’s stock is largely flat for the year, underperforming the S&P 500 energy sector which has gained more than 6%. Shares have struggled to gain ground as uncertainty looms over the company’s pending $53 billion acquisition of Hess.
The Federal Trade Commission has cleared the deal, though it prohibited John Hess from joining Chevron’s board.
Chevron remains locked in a dispute with Exxon Mobil, which is claiming a right of first refusal over Hess Corp.’s lucrative oil assets in Guyana. If an arbitration court rules in Exxon’s favor, Chevron’s acquisition of Hess would fail to close.
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