Elon Musk’s Secret Plan to Turn Your Home into a Power Hub—Could This Save the Grid or Spark Controversy?

So, Elon Musk’s Tesla is gearing up to flip the UK’s energy game on its head—imagine a world where “nationwide blackouts” are just a bad memory, like dial-up internet or floppy disks. Musk threw his hat in the ring with Ofgem, the UK’s energy watchdog, aiming to tussle with the big players like British Gas and Octopus Energy. The secret weapon? The Tesla Powerwall—a hefty £8,000 lithium-ion wonder that’s basically a home battery on steroids. Sure, it’s an upfront splash, but in the long haul, it might just save homeowners a pretty penny—charging from solar panels, storing energy, and even selling the extra juice back to the grid. Tesla’s already lighting up homes in Texas and California, and it seems like they want to do the same here, with a smart twist involving AI and virtual power plants linking all these batteries in a neat little network. It’s like turning every home into a mini power station and maybe, just maybe, saving the UK billions while keeping the lights on. Ready to see if Musk can really pull off the ultimate blackout heist? LEARN MORE

Elon Musk’s electric vehicle and engineering firm Tesla has applied to provide power to people in the UK, vowing to put an end to ‘nationwide blackouts.’

The tech mogul applied to the gas and electric market regulator Ofgem in July, in a bid to challenge the UK’s leading providers British Gas and Octopus Energy.

While details currently remain thin on the ground, it’s widely thought Musk’s company will focus on the Tesla Powerwall, which is a home energy system made up of a big, rechargeable lithium-ion battery that can store energy within the home.

Although a hefty initial investment £8,000 is needed to buy the Powerwall, it could work out a lot more cost effective for users over the long term. There are two ways of using the device.

The Tesla Powerwalls are essentially huge batteries. (Toru Hanai/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

One way is to install solar panels and use these to charge the battery, which can then be stored and used in the home. If there is an excess of power, this can then be pumped into the National Grid, which would result in a payment being made to the homeowner.

Or, it can be used without solar panels and would be chargeable using the grid, though this would mean several of the benefits would be lost.

Tesla already has power companies running in both Texas and California, which are accessible to all citizens – not just Tesla owners – and its thought the same business model would be mirrored here in the UK.

Musk first unveiled the Tesla Powerwall back in 2015. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

One industry expert, Joe Tabita, energy lead at consulting group Publicis Sapient, told the iPaper he believes Ofgem is likely to accept the application from Tesla, especially as they will offer to support the regulator in building resilience in the National Grid.

“Ofgem is generally pretty supportive of new entrants, if they meet the requirements… and likely to approve Tesla’s application,” he said.

Tabita went on to say that Tesla could even goes as far as linking all of its batteries to ‘virtual power plants’, using AI technology to transfer energy across networks.

The system can be controlled using an app. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“Tesla has the technology with its virtual power plant that offers something a little bit different and a more complete offer that many others entering this space,” he said.

“It’s a vertically integrated system. They have the storage, they have the AI software, and the vehicle business as well.

“This potentially prevents the cost of building power plants, saving the UK billions in expenditure and keeping the lights on.”