Tesla CEO Elon Musk took the United States Department of Energy to task on X recently, after the latter's easily debunked post about clean energy, Fortune reported.
Musk, once a prominent booster of President Donald Trump's second term, had an equally high-profile break and subsequent feud with the administration in late May. According to reports, the cause of their split was the administration's lack of support for electric vehicles.
On Sept. 5, the U.S. Department of Energy (@ENERGY) tackled renewable energy in a baffling post.
"Wind and solar energy infrastructure is essentially worthless when it is dark outside, and the wind is not blowing," the agency's post stated. That claim would surely surprise Germany; wind supplied nearly 40% of the nation's electricity last summer.
The claim was not the first time the Department of Energy or its secretary, Chris Wright, spread clearly identifiable misinformation about clean energy or climate patterns in recent weeks and months.
In August, Wright challenged global scientific consensus definitively linking higher temperatures with extreme weather in a post on X. When Wright made a similarly easy-to-refute claim about solar panels earlier this month, Musk called Wright's commentary "tragic."
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Tesla maintains a well-known solar energy arm, and Musk was again concise when addressing the Department of Energy's assertion that wind and solar are "worthless" when the former isn't blowing and the latter isn't shining.
Um … hello? https://t.co/G7zK0S9byo
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 6, 2025
"Um, hello?" Musk replied, reposting a video shared by Tesla's Megapack account (@Tesla_Megapack). Megapack is a utility-scale battery designed to store renewable energy, such as solar.
Musk wasn't the only person to express incredulity at the Department's strange assertion.
"Fun fact: demand is higher when the Sun is out[.] Bonus fact: batteries can store energy," a user quipped.
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Upfront costs 💰 "POV: @ENERGY getting caught pushing bs," another posted, alongside an image of a Tesla robot with googly eyes.
"They refuse to talk about batteries. Sec. Wright is Fossil to his core. He gives lip service to nuclear, but isn't doing much to help. Same with solar and using batteries to lighten T&D loads," a third replied.
However, the most direct and visible rebuttal to the Department of Energy's post was, perhaps, a prominent community note that appeared by default under it.
"Batteries allow electricity to be stored and used at a different time than when it is generated," the note read, with a link to the Wikipedia entry for "electric battery" following it.
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