About TESLA

We're a small company on a big mission: provide the best possible energy forecasting solutions for our clients around the world.

We're a growing company maintaining offices both in Richmond, Virginia and in London.

We believe every client deserves easy-to-use products, fast and accurate results, and the best possible support. We’ve set high standards for ourselves and we work hard every day to make sure we live up to those standards.

Our History

The first TESLA model was developed for The London Electricity Board in 1992. TESLA (Europe) Ltd. was incorporated shortly afterwards on the back of the success of this initial model. TESLA Inc. was founded in 1995 to continue to build on this success in the US. The original model that was built in 1992 has been in continuous use since its inception.

Our original product offering was used primarily for weather effect decomposition, a capability most of our current products retain. The model was also applied early-on to energy demand analysis, for example to derive sets of temperature response curves for host systems. From the onset, it was apparent that the TESLA Model could provide superior short-term load forecasts, particularly in advance of changes in weather patterns. Our first forecasting packages with complete interactive user interfaces went into use in the first year of the company’s existence.

While our early users were traditional utilities, deregulation of the energy markets and increased concerns about efficient energy use have broadened our client base to include trading organizations and retail suppliers. Expansion of our client base has been accompanied by advances in our product lines, to support greater integration into host systems, very rapid response to changing situations, and intuitive interactive tools for weather risk analysis.

We've taken advantage of the growth of the Internet both to provide clients with delivery options ranging from on-site complete systems to a variety of web-based alternatives. Growth of the web has also facilitated expansion into Europe and the rest of the world.

Meet Our Team

John Sneed President, TESLA, Inc. Managing Director, TESLA (Europe) Ltd.	John is a co-founder of TESLA, Inc., and the creator of TESLA’s energy modeling methodology. He has over 30 years experience in econometric consulting and has worked in the US and UK energy industries since 1988. John co-founded TESLA with Jim Streets in 1995.
Jim Streets Vice President, TESLA, Inc. Director, TESLA (Europe) Ltd.	Jim served for 25 years in the United States Air Force. After serving on flight crews and on staff, he went on to earn a PhD in Economics, and was appointed to the faculty at the Air Force Academy. He conducted numerous econometrics research projects for the US military. After retiring with the rank of Colonel, Jim co-founded TESLA, Inc., Inc. with John Sneed in 1995.
Tim Delap Director, TESLA (Europe) Ltd. London Office	Tim has been involved with TESLA Inc. and the TESLA forecasting system since its original installation at London Electricity in 1982. He has been a Director of TESLA (Europe) Ltd since the company's incorporation. After twenty years service in the UK Royal Air Force, Tim left to read Monetary Economics at the London School of Economics. From there he joined the UK Government Economic Service. In 1982 he left that to work in the private sector, initially as a statistical consultant but then running his own company and specialising in electricity demand forecasting.
Diego Frau Economist London Office	Diego has been working for TESLA since 2007 as an Economist. He started at the company after finishing a postgraduate degree in Economics and Statistics, at the Université des Sciences Sociales of Toulouse (France). He works on the calibration of the econometric models.
Earnest White Economist US Office	Earnest recently joined TESLA in 2008 as an intern. Having finished his undergraduate degree in Economics, Earnest joined the Estimation team at the beginning of 2009 and looks forward to gaining experience in the energy industry.
Gheorghe Grecea Economist US Office	Gheorghe joined the Estimation Team at TESLA in June 2009, after earning his BSBA, magna cum laude, in Economics and Business Administration at the University of Richmond. Prior to graduating, he was an intern with the firm.
Jane Knight Senior Economist US Office	Jane has been with TESLA since 1993. Previously an economist with the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, she holds a master’s degree from the University of Iowa. At TESLA, Jane is responsible for load and weather data analysis and the development of new forecasting models.
J.P. Sneed Estimation Manager US Office	J.P. has been with TESLA since 2001, after graduating from Virginia Tech with a BS in Economics with a Statistics minor. J.P. completed an MBA from the University of Georgia in 2006 and became Estimation Manager in 2007. J.P. has constructed all variations of load/gas forecasting models throughout his days at TESLA and regularly attends APDA and other industry meetings.
Juan Fernandez Economist London Office	Juan has worked for TESLA in the Estimation team since 2006. He holds an Msc in Economics from Birkbeck, University of London and a first class degree in Economics and Business Administration from the University of Oviedo, Spain. He has previously worked with a number of large companies and government departments in UK and Spain.
Lisa Rogers Data Manager London Office	Lisa, our Data Manager, joined TESLA in 2001. She is the first point of contact for data issues, and is responsible for examination and screening of all data that is used to build TESLA models. Lisa has over 20 years administrative experience, and also serves as the administrator of the London office.
Mark Hewitt Operations Manager London Office	Mark has worked as the Operations Manager since 2005. Formerly an electricity and gas forecasting analyst with Scottish and Southern Energy, and the Help Desk Manager at St Clements Services, the UK leader in Power Settlements Systems validation software, Mark has worked in the UK power industry since 1995.
Megan Garrison Data Assistant US Office	Megan joined TESLA as a data assistant in January 2010 with a Bachelors of Science in Business Management. Megan is responsible for researching and compiling data, as well as providing administrative support.
Mike Goodman Senior Economist US Office	Mike has worked on the estimation team since completing his BA in economics from James Madison University in 2004. He builds and maintains forecasting models by applying econometric techniques to electricity and gas industry data.
Shannyn Sneed Marketing Director US Office	Shannyn joined TESLA as the Marketing Director in 2001. She has over 15 years of experience in computer hardware and software sales and marketing. Shannyn represents TESLA at industry meetings and events throughout the United States, and coordinates TESLA’s continued support and meeting sponsorship of all five American Power Dispatchers Association (APDA) regions.
Tiffani Collins Data Assistant US Office	Tiffani joined TESLA in January 2010 as a data assistant, prior to earning her bachelors degree in Economics from the University of Kentucky. Tiffani is responsible for researching and compiling data, along with providing administrative support.
Tony Baker Technical Manager London Office	Tony joined TESLA in 2003, and serves as our UK Technical Manager, and Area Manager for Australia and New Zealand. Graduated in 1999 at Waikato University (New Zealand) with a Bachelor of Computing and Mathematical Sciences (BCMS) gaining first class honours. Tony has worked in the software engineering field ever since, coming over to the UK in 2001.