Take the example one step further. If you teleported your lead to an area of space relatively free of gravitational influences. You've spent much more energy to get it there, and you don't have the specter of new found potential energy to worry about. Remember potential energy is that which matter stores, so raising a block above the ground or stretching a spring converts work into potential energy.
You have to remember that when the laws regarding potential energy were created, the Earth was flat and the notion of outer space and zero g wasn't even considered, so lifting anything away from the earth was work and built up potential energy.
