Elon Musk’s Tesla set to supply UK with electricity

A subsidiary of Tesla, Elon Musk’s electric vehicle maker, has won approval to supply UK households and businesses with electricity, Britain’s energy regulator said Thursday.

The company applied to become an electricity supplier in Britain in July, a first such move outside the United States by the operation run by tech billionaire Musk.

Tesla Energy Ventures obtained a licence to produce electricity in the UK in 2020, notably using solar panels, without selling it directly to consumers.

It currently provides power across Texas.

The regulator Ofgem said Tesla Energy Ventures “has been granted a licence authorising it to supply electricity to domestic and non-domestic consumers in Great Britain”.

A spokesperson added that “protecting consumers and maintaining a secure, fair energy market underpins every licensing decision we make”.

The announcement comes as Tesla suffers a global decline in sales of its cars.