The world’s leading innovator of electric cars is also powering hybrid-electric buildings in Irvine.

A few years ago, Tesla Energy teamed up with Irvine Company to create the world’s first fleet of hybrid-electric buildings that can reduce their power demand by 10 megawatts — enough to serve 10,000 homes — during peak hours.

How? With the help of Tesla batteries that shift electrical use to battery power as needed, just as hybrid-electric cars shift from gas to battery power to conserve energy and reduce costs.

The Tesla batteries are charged at night and used when demand peaks.

Hybrid-electric buildings are considered a new class of resource to balance the grid — and a possible replacement for expensive power plants, called “Peaker” plants, that run only during peak demand.

Irvine’s 24 hybrid-electric buildings are expected to reduce peak-power use by 25%.

They’re also expected to start a national trend – of customers that store power on-site, easing our collective reliance on the grid.

A Leader in Energy Conservation

Irvine Company’s office buildings have earned industry-leading recognition, including:

• California’s largest portfolio of LEED-certified buildings – a designation reserved for the most sustainable buildings by the U.S. Green Building Council
• America’s largest collection of ENERGY STAR-certified buildings, as certified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2020
• America’s largest portfolio of new-construction office buildings with the “Designed to Earn the ENERGY STAR” designation over the past six years

Read more about our long-term commitment to sustainability in our recent Stewardship & Sustainability Report.