El Paso Taps Home Batteries to Build a Stronger, Smarter Power Grid

EL PASO, TX – February 10, 2026 – El Paso Electric (EPE) is turning to its customers' homes to fortify the regional power grid. In a pioneering move for West Texas, the utility has launched a new pilot program with Austin-based energy company Base Power to deploy a network of residential battery systems. This initiative aims to create a flexible, dispatchable resource—often called a "virtual power plant"—that can be called upon during periods of high electricity use, bolstering grid stability while simultaneously providing participating homeowners with crucial backup power during outages.

A New Front in Grid Resilience

The partnership arrives at a critical time for EPE, which, like many utilities across the country, is grappling with a trifecta of modern energy challenges: significant load growth, the increasing frequency of extreme weather, and the constraints of existing infrastructure. The utility has seen its peak demand records broken in recent years, with a notable 9.5% surge in 2020 and another record set in the summer of 2023. This growth, driven by an expanding customer base and more intense heat waves, puts immense strain on transformers and power lines.

Extreme weather remains a primary threat to consistent service. While summer heat drives demand to its limits, thunderstorms are the leading cause of power outages across EPE's 10,000-square-mile service area. The new program is a direct response to these pressures. As part of its Residential Distributed Energy Storage Pilot Program (DESPP), EPE aims to bring up to 10 megawatts of residential energy storage online before the summer of 2026. This capacity is targeted to address localized constraints and defer the need for costly and time-consuming traditional infrastructure upgrades.

“Distributed energy storage is becoming an increasingly important tool for utilities navigating load growth, extreme weather, and infrastructure constraints,” said Kelly Tomblin, CEO of El Paso Electric, in the official announcement. “This partnership with Base Power allows us to add flexible, cost-effective capacity where it’s needed most, while maintaining operational control and delivering tangible reliability benefits for our customers.”

How the Virtual Power Plant Works

At its core, the program aggregates dozens or hundreds of individual home batteries into a single, cohesive, and controllable asset. Under the agreement, Base Power, an energy company founded in 2023, is responsible for installing and maintaining the battery systems in qualifying residential homes within EPE's Texas territory. EPE, in turn, will manage the fleet, giving its system operators the ability to dispatch the networked batteries to support the grid during peak hours.

This model allows the utility to strategically charge the batteries when power is abundant and cheaper, then discharge them back to the grid to reduce strain during high-demand events, such as a hot summer afternoon. For the utility, this represents a new source of flexible capacity that can be deployed significantly faster than building a new power plant or transmission line.

“We’re excited for the opportunity to support EPE in adding flexible, reliable capacity to its system,” said Zach Dell, CEO of Base Power. “By aggregating residential batteries into a utility-controlled resource, EPE can strengthen reliability, manage peak demand, and defer costly infrastructure investments - all while providing customers with meaningful outage protection.”

Base Power’s business model focuses on rapid, scalable deployment. While a centralized utility-scale battery project can face lengthy permitting and construction timelines, the company claims it can install enough distributed home batteries to match that capacity in a matter of months, with each individual installation taking less than a day.

Empowering Homes, Fortifying the Community

For participating homeowners, the most immediate and tangible benefit is energy resilience. When the grid is operating normally, the battery serves the utility. But if a thunderstorm or equipment failure causes a power outage, the system automatically disconnects from the grid and provides backup power to the home, keeping lights on and essential appliances running. This feature is particularly valuable in a region prone to weather-related disruptions.

Unlike many energy programs, participation is not contingent on owning rooftop solar panels; the battery systems are designed to operate independently. This widens the pool of eligible customers, making grid participation and backup power more accessible. Base Power’s model typically involves a low upfront cost for the homeowner, with the company retaining ownership and responsibility for the hardware. This approach removes the significant financial barrier that has traditionally limited residential battery adoption. Interested homeowners in the service area can check their eligibility on the company's website.

A Scalable Blueprint for the Future

The EPE-Base Power collaboration is more than a local pilot; it represents a blueprint that is gaining traction across the United States. Utilities from Vermont to California are increasingly embracing virtual power plants as a key strategy for modernizing their grids. Companies like Tesla and sonnen, along with utilities such as Green Mountain Power and Arizona Public Service, have already launched successful VPPs that leverage customer-sited resources.

This trend is supported by a favorable regulatory environment. The federal Inflation Reduction Act, for instance, offers a significant 30% tax credit for standalone energy storage, making these projects more economically viable for both companies and consumers. In Texas, while EPE operates outside the main ERCOT grid, regulators at the Public Utility Commission of Texas have shown a clear interest in encouraging battery storage to enhance statewide grid reliability.

The partnership structure—with the utility managing dispatch and a third-party specialist handling deployment and maintenance—is proving to be a replicable and efficient model. It allows utilities to tap into the benefits of distributed energy without taking on the operational complexity of managing a vast fleet of residential installations. As electricity demand continues to grow, driven by everything from data centers to electric vehicles, such innovative and collaborative approaches to grid management are becoming not just an option, but a necessity.