Thousands object to Tesla bid to supply energy to UK homes
More than 8,000 people have asked Ofgem to block Tesla from supplying British households with electricity over owner Elon Musk’s “clear political agenda”.
The company applied for a licence from the energy regulator last month, aiming to start supplying power to homes and businesses in England, Scotland and Wales as soon as next year.
But its billionaire owner’s political activity, including his support for Donald Trump and far-right activist Tommy Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, has drawn objections to the application from the public.
Objections
Campaign group Best for Britain has urged the public to write to Ofgem, arguing Mr Musk is not a “fit and proper” person to have “a foothold in our essential services”.
Some 8,462 people have used the group’s online tool to lodge objections with Ofgem so far.
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, promoting baseless conspiracy theories and helping Trump secure a second term as US president – something that continues to change our world in profoundly dangerous ways.
“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 by using our online tool to write to Ofgem and say they oppose this power grab – it only takes two minutes.”
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.
The electric car manufacturer, run by the world’s richest man, also has a solar energy and battery storage business.
Electricity generator
Tesla has been involved in the UK energy market since 2020, when it was granted a licence to be an electricity generator.
In the US, the group has been an electricity supplier in Texas for the past three years.
The application comes amid a backdrop of waning demand for Tesla’s electric vehicles across Europe in recent months.
Industry figures showed an almost 60% plunge in the number of new Tesla registrations in the UK in July, compared with a year earlier.
Data showed that 987 new vehicles were registered in the UK in July compared with 2,462 in the same month a year earlier.
Tesla was approached for comment for this story.
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No wonder. I don’t want a nazi locking me inside my home like his cars do.
Oh really? I’ve locked myself OUT of a car but I’ve never been locked IN one. Thousands object plus me. No Nazi energy for me nor prison cars.
Yeah the Tesla cars have been having… issues. One driver nearly got baked alive after the battery failed on a hot day and the door didn’t automatically disengage the locks meaning he was locked inside… because the only way to otherwise unlock the car is through the software interface.
Now in fairness, there are technically manual ways out… but these can be hard to find, often unlabelled and if you haven’t read the manual you might not even know they exist (I didn’t until some research).
In short, a death trap.
Apparently the hidden door handles can’t be opened by emergency services after a crash. Musk knew this but it was more important to look cool.
Here’s a link to the letter writing tool:
https://actionbutton.nationbuilder.com/share/SPK-QEREREg=
Definitely needs an objection. Another commentator has left a link, but if it doesn’t work for you, you can find it on the Best for Britain website, under Take Action, under Tackle Far Right. Ublock origin doesn’t play nice with the website so you may need to disable it temporarily, or you can send an email directly to ofgem and to you MP. The choice is yours. If Tesla kicked Musk out, I’d withdraw my objection near immediately as it would show that it had suddenly developed the ability to think for itself and make rational decisions. As it is,… Read more »
Do nazi salutes, expose what you are, run a platform that pushes lies and hate and attacks anyone who is decent that musk hates, who knew.
Bloke turned off the starlink system because putin, the bloke has no idea about data security, threw a hissy fit when someone was rescuing kids and refused his help. You want that idiot flogging power into your home, offshoring your details?
After what he has done, his brand needs to die.
He is not a nice person.
Screwfix are selling Tesla brand immersion heater elements. Needless to say, I won’t be buying one.