Tesla Reportedly Plans to Plug Giant Battery Into Texas Power Grid Near Houston
According to a recent report from Bloomberg, Tesla is constructing a massive battery just south of Houston, which could indicate the company is about to enter Texas' electricity market.
I have no idea where Elon Musk was during the recent winter storm that rolled through Texas and knocked out power to millions of people, but if he was in Texas, he knows the struggle we all went through. I do know he took to Twitter to let the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, know how he felt by tweeting, “Not earning that R,” which I'm assuming he was referencing the "Reliability" part of their name.
Whatever the case, it looks like he'll be getting into the battery powered Texas energy business real soon. It makes sense, since he's been at the forefront of the battery powered automobile business now for several years. The Tesla vehicle is a battery powered automobile, but Tesla's official mission is to “accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.”
The battery-storage system being built south of Houston is registered with ERCOT. It's been reported that the project has a proposed commercial operation date of June 1, and can store excess electricity from wind and solar that can be sold back to the grid.
It's supply and demand. Buy it and store it when prices and demand are low, then sell it back to the grid when prices and demand are high. So while Tesla's focus is on automobiles, the company is also focusing on energy.
Musk said during an earnings call in July 2020, “I think long-term Tesla Energy will be roughly the same size as Tesla Automotive. The energy business is collectively bigger than the automotive business.”
Like him or not, the man offered to help during the winter storm and knows his business, and he could help Texas avoid another disaster like the one we saw a couple of weeks ago.