Elon Musk Says Utilities Shouldn’t Fear His Battery Systems
Elon Musk, co-founder and chief executive officer of Tesla Motors Inc., speaks during the unveiling of the company's "Powerwall' at an event in Hawthorne, Calif., on April 30, 2015.
Photographer: Tim Rue/BloombergElon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla Motors Inc., told electric utility owners they shouldn’t fear that his battery systems will put them out of business -- instead, they should buy them.
Most customers in the U.S. will use the Powerwall home system as a backup in the event of a failure, not as a primary source of electricity replacing utility sales, Musk said Monday at a gathering of utility executives in New Orleans. Plus, Musk said electric cars like the Tesla Model S will help triple demand for power in the coming decades. He sees less than a third of that served by distributed generation like the battery storage system and solar panels Tesla backs.