Powering Austin's Future: Base Power's Affordable Battery Revolution

AUSTIN, TX – July 15, 2026 – A strategic partnership years in the making officially came to life today as Austin-based Base Power launched its home battery backup service for Austin Energy customers. The collaboration marks a significant shift in the energy landscape, aiming to democratize power resilience for homeowners while simultaneously forging a powerful new asset for managing the city's electrical grid.

Following a partnership announcement in May, residents can now have a 40 kWh Base battery installed for a fraction of the traditional cost, providing seamless, whole-home power for up to 36 hours during an outage. More strategically, this network of thousands of residential batteries creates a distributed energy resource that Austin Energy can tap into during periods of peak demand, enhancing grid stability for the entire community.

"Austin is where we built Base," said Zach Dell, co-founder and CEO of Base Power. "Partnering with Austin Energy means our own community, families, and neighbors can now get affordable home backup. Austin Energy has kept this city powered for over 130 years, and we’re proud to now be part of that story."

The New Economics of Energy Resilience

For decades, the peace of mind that comes with whole-home backup power has been a luxury. Traditional solutions, such as gas-powered generators or comprehensive solar-plus-battery systems, often carry prohibitive price tags, with installation costs ranging from $10,000 to over $40,000. This high financial barrier has left many homeowners vulnerable to grid disruptions caused by extreme weather or infrastructure strain.

Base Power is disrupting this market with a fundamentally different business model. The company charges a one-time installation fee of $695, followed by a $19 monthly subscription that covers all service and maintenance for the life of the battery. This approach shifts the paradigm from a large capital expenditure to a low-cost, accessible service, effectively opening the market to a much broader demographic.

"I've been interested in getting backup support for a long time, but have held off due to the cost of a generator," commented John H., an Austin Energy customer and one of the first to sign up. "I immediately jumped at the opportunity to get a Base battery. It provides multiple days of backup for a fraction of the cost and maintenance."

This strategic pricing is not just a marketing tactic; it is the core of a model designed for mass adoption. By removing the primary barrier to entry, Base Power can rapidly build the dense network of distributed batteries required for its larger grid-services strategy to be effective.

Building a Smarter, Stronger Grid

The partnership's true innovation lies in its dual benefit. While customers gain individual energy security, Austin Energy gains a powerful tool for modern grid management. The aggregated capacity of the installed Base batteries forms a Virtual Power Plant (VPP)—a cloud-based network of distributed energy resources that can be dispatched in unison to support the grid.

During high-demand periods, such as a sweltering summer afternoon, Austin Energy can draw on this 40-megawatt VPP to inject power back into the system. This reduces the strain on traditional power plants, helps stabilize energy prices by avoiding the need to purchase expensive power on the open market, and lowers the overall risk of widespread outages. This initiative is a cornerstone of Austin Energy’s broader Electric System Resiliency Plan (ESRP), a 10-year, $735 million roadmap to create a more robust and intelligent distribution system.

The VPP directly contributes to the utility's goal of deploying 78 megawatts of demand response capacity by 2027. In a state where the ERCOT grid faces increasing pressure from extreme weather events and soaring demand from electrification and data centers, such innovative solutions are no longer optional but essential for future reliability.

An Austin Story: Local Innovation Meets Municipal Might

This collaboration is also a distinctly Austin-centric success story. Base Power, founded in 2023 and headquartered in the city, represents the kind of local innovation that has come to define the region. The company already employs more than 500 people in Austin and is making a major investment in the local economy by repurposing the former Austin American-Statesman site on Lady Bird Lake into its first energy storage and power electronics factory.

The synergy between a nimble, fast-growing technology firm and a venerable 130-year-old municipal utility exemplifies a forward-thinking public-private partnership. It allows Austin Energy to accelerate its grid modernization goals by leveraging private sector innovation and capital, while providing Base Power with the scale and customer base needed to prove its model.

Scaling Ambition: From Texas Homes to a National Grid

While the Austin launch is a major milestone, it is part of a much larger national strategy. Since its public launch in 2024, Base Power has already deployed its systems in over 15,000 homes across Texas, building one of the fastest-growing distributed energy platforms in the country. This rapid growth was supercharged by a staggering $1 billion Series C funding round in October 2025, signaling immense investor confidence in its vision.

The company’s vertically integrated model—controlling everything from hardware manufacturing and software orchestration to energy service and installation—is its key competitive advantage. This allows it to control costs, innovate quickly, and offer a seamless customer experience that legacy energy providers and hardware-only companies struggle to match. Austin Energy joins a growing roster of utilities, including El Paso Electric and several Texas cooperatives, that are partnering with Base Power to harness the power of VPPs. With a recent expansion into Illinois, the company is demonstrating that this model for creating a more reliable, affordable, and resilient energy future has applications far beyond the Texas border.