Thousands of angry Brits have told Tesla (TSLA) boss Elon Musk to pull the plug on plans to enter the country’s energy supply market.
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Over 8,000 people have asked energy regulator Ofgem to block Tesla from supplying British households with electricity over owner Elon Musk’s “clear political agenda”.
License Bid
Tesla Energy Ventures is currently trying to get approval for an energy license from regulator Ofgem to supply British households and take on giants such as British Gas owner Centrica and Octopus Energy. If successful, it hopes to start switching on supply next year.
Members of the public have until Friday to comment on the application, after which Ofgem will decide whether to grant Tesla a licence to supply electricity.
They haven’t been holding back.
According to campaign group Best for Britain, 8,462 people have used its online tool to lodge objections with Ofgem. The group believes that Musk is not a “fit and proper” person to have a “foothold in our essential services.”
Best for Britain’s chief executive Naomi Smith said: “We’ve all had a front row seat to Musk’s malign influence, turning Twitter into an incubator for right-wing hate. British people are rightly against Musk being anywhere near our electricity supply and that’s why we are encouraging more people to make their views known before Friday.”
Tesla has had its troubles this year with its EV arm, faced by stiffer competition and the hit to brand reputation caused by Musk’s involved in the Trump administration. This has impacted the company’s previous ‘tour de force’ share price performance.
However, it has a burgeoning solar energy and battery storage business and has been an electricity supplier in Texas for the past three years.
Good Energy
Tesla’s energy business saw total energy generation and storage revenue jump 67% year over year to more than $10 billion in 2024. After deploying 14.7 gigawatt hours (GWh) of storage in 2023, Tesla more than doubled this figure to 31.4 GWh in 2024.
Its Megapack product – a grid-scale battery storage solution designed for utilities and large-scale commercial customers, has led the way. The company is producing Megapacks at its dedicated Lathrop, California, facility, and recently started production at a second Megapack factory in Shanghai, with a target production of up to 40 GWh of capacity per year.
The British business is expected to be branded TeslaElectric and could focus on supplying electricity to consumers who own Tesla products such as cars or batteries.
Indeed, according to industry experts, Tesla is in a strong position in the U.K. to start supplying if the license application is approved.
It has sold more than a quarter of a million EVs and tens of thousands of home storage batteries, called Powerwalls, in the UK, which could help it gain access to a sizeable customer base for an electricity supply business.
Is TSLA a Good Stock to Buy Now?
On TipRanks, TSLA has a Hold consensus based on 14 Buy, 15 Hold and 8 Sell ratings. Its highest price target is $500. TSLA stock’s consensus price is $307.23, implying an 8.33% downside.
