After Musk’s comments about violence, Labour backbencher Clive Lewis said in September: “Elon Musk shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near our critical infrastructure.”
The news comes at it a critical time for the domestic retail market, with industry warnings that customer debts have hit £5.5 billion. Disruption of key trade routes in the Gulf has pushed up wholesale gas and oil prices sharply.
Ofgem’s license for Tesla Ventures took effect on Wednesday, the regulator said.
It said the company must comply with all licensing conditions including requirements for treating customers fairly, financial responsibility, operational capability, billing, information provision and consumer protection.
Ofgem will have assessed whether Musk was a “fit and proper” person to lead a U.K energy supplier, although experts have previously said that is unlikely to take political statements into account.
Ed Miliband’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has been approached for comment.