Just what secrets are Tesla hiding, we wonder, after hearing that two journalists trying to sneak a peek at the top-secret US ‘gigafactory’ were collared by security guards.
Tesla claims the journalists, from the Reno Gazette Journal, were apprehended by guards who they then ran over in an attempt to flee the scene. The paper says its vehicle was damaged by a rock.
The incident comes as the US Supreme Court hears a case that could determine whether Tesla’s much lauded lithium-ion ‘Powerwall’, and indeed all energy storage systems (ESS), succeeds.
The hearing has been prompted because in May 2014, the US Court of Appeals in Washington, DC, ‘vacated’ Order 745 in response to a case brought by the Electric Power Supply Association, an organisation of power generators.
Order 745, or ‘demand-response’, pays people for cutting their electricity consumption at peak times: effectively, paying consumers for peak shaving.
This would qualify owners of the Powerwall, or any one of the plethora of small-scale ESSs coming onto the market, for a rebate and the end of each month.
But if the incentive is cut will homeowners still want to pay the $3,500 for the 10kW version of the Powerwall? Sure it can store renewable energy, but even at 10kW it will only power the average home for a few hours, and it would be many years before the owner claws back the money they paid for it.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission claims that in 2013, demand-response saved consumers in the mid-Atlantic $11.8 billion.
If demand-response is removed it could have a huge impact on the US ESS market far beyond Tesla’s deep pockets.
The hearing is expected to last until June 2016.
