Installation of the Base Power home battery. (Photo: Base Power)
Most homes in North Texas are hooked up exclusively to the electric grid, meaning that when there is a power outage, it is dark and hot or cold for hours or days. The exception is a homeowner whose house shines like a beacon in the midnight darkness of freezing or sweating neighbors, thanks to a roof covered in solar panels and an expensive battery system, or an expensive gasoline-powered generator humming away in the backyard.
The first solution costs nothing extra, but can have dire consequences in the event of a power outage. (For now, you can say goodbye to the contents of your refrigerator.) The second solution can make you the envy of the neighborhood, but will cost you tens of thousands of dollars up front.
Filling that gap is Austin-based Base Power, co-founded in 2023 by CEO Zach Dell — son of Dell founder and CEO Michael Dell — and COO Justin Lopas. After launching in the Austin area in May, the startup announced today that it is expanding to Dallas-Fort Worth.
Installing a home battery for $3,000
CEO Zach Dell
On one level, Base is like any other licensed electricity provider that will power your home in exchange for a monthly bill. The difference: For $3,000, Base will install a home battery, providing a backup power source “for nearly one-tenth the cost of other backup batteries or generators.” (Base will still own and maintain the battery itself.)
Base says that in the event of a power outage, the home battery can meet a household’s needs for between 6 and 24 hours, “depending on the household’s energy use.” The company says its solution protects customers against 97% of power outages.
“The pain every Texan is feeling this summer and winter is a preview of what could happen across the country,” CEO Zach Dell said in a statement. “Our aging energy systems are unable to take advantage of our increasingly renewable and intermittent power supply, and we are unprepared for the growing demand as Texas grows and our economy electrifies. Base Power is the key to unlocking an energy-rich future through controllable, distributed battery storage.”
Solar energy is not required, but integration is possible
Managing Director: Justin Lopas
Base says it is “the first and only company to offer customers home battery, energy service and installation all in one – with no solar installation required.” However, existing solar panels can be integrated into Base’s system to provide backup power, with the company offering “the best solar buyback rates in all of Texas.”
Base says customers of these solar-powered homes will be credited for all their excess solar production – whether it goes into the battery or flows back into the grid – at a rate of “real-time wholesale price plus 3¢/kWh.”
In addition, homeowners can also install their own solar modules at a later date and have them integrated into the Base system if they wish.
The aim is to serve as a “virtual power plant”
In addition to the impact on individual households, Base says it aims to strengthen the Texas power grid by acting as a “virtual power plant.”
“When the grid is running, the Base battery improves grid stability, and when the grid fails, Base protects customers’ homes from power outages,” the company said. “By switching to Base and installing a Base battery, customers gain access to reliable backup power and competitive energy prices, without the high upfront costs of traditional home batteries or generators.”
Base currently says its tariff is 13.5¢/kWh “all-in” for energy usage, including energy costs and all transmission and delivery fees.
If a power outage occurs, Base informs customers of the expected battery life, offers tips on how to extend coverage, and a timeline for when mains power will be restored.
The company expects it to be available in Dallas in early 2025. There is already a waiting list on its website.
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