Tesla, through its electric utility unit Tesla Electric, has just teamed up with American renewable energy company Sunrun to expand its operations in Texas, United States.
Tesla, Sunrun join forces to drive clean energy adoption
According to the press release, the partnership aims to support the state’s electric grid using customers’ solar panels and battery energy storage systems (BESS).
Tesla and Sunrun already registered over 150 customers in Texas, with plans to further boost enrollments for the program while they dispatch battery-stored solar energy from participating households. By doing so, the partnership expects to significantly expand available electricity reserves on the electric grid during high consumption periods.
As part of this partnership, Sunrun is already collaborating with Tesla to use Powerwalls with its solar installations.
“Sunrun customers who enroll will be participating in ERCOT’s Aggregated Distributed Energy Resources pilot program aimed at strengthening grid reliability by networking together customer-sited storage devices to serve as a resource for the wholesale electricity market.
Additionally, customer Powerwall batteries will also help to lower the costs of energy at the wholesale level. The resulting energy cost savings will be shared with customers.”
Sunrun
Sunrun indicated that Tesla Electric customers in Texas will receive an annual compensation of $400 per Powerwall in 2024 for participating in the program.
About Tesla Electric
The Musk-led company established Tesla Electric in 2022 after yielding promising outcomes from its virtual power plants (VPPs).
Since then, Tesla Electric has been automatically buying/selling electricity for Tesla Powerwall owners to help them avoid peak prices.
Tesla currently only offers the service to its Powerwall owners in Texas and the United Kingdom. However, the company seems to be striving to expand the reach of its products through this new division.
Now, Tesla is apparently seeking to leverage Sunrun’s large customer base in Texas to further grow its electricity retailing business.
Accelerating adoption of solar and storage technologies
The new partnership comes just weeks after Hurricane Beryl brought widespread power outages to almost 3 million homes and businesses. Before that, the state also suffered from a “devastating and deadly” electric grid meltdown due to the winter storm in February 2021.
Such catastrophes highlight the importance of adopting clean energy resources, such as solar and battery storage systems, to support the electrical grid.
“Texas grid has already experienced a traumatic spring and summer due to weather vulnerabilities and we know the state also needs more power to meet soaring demand on a daily basis. We’re eager to bring Sunrun’s on-demand battery response expertise to help make the grid more resilient against outages.
Texas families are increasingly opting to add batteries to their solar installations. On-site energy storage not only provides homeowners peace of mind with outage protection but also enables them to participate in programs like these by contributing to solutions that better the lives of those in their communities.”
Sunrun CEO Mary Powell
The Tesla-Sunrun partnership will undoubtedly give homeowners greater energy control, security, and independence. In addition, it will enable users to obtain incentives for sharing electricity from their Tesla Powerwall batteries while also helping to stabilize the electric grid.
