Base Power, Start-up Retail Provider Led By Zach Dell, Officially Launches; Retail Pricing, VPP Strategy Revealed -- EnergyChoiceMatters.com

Base Power, Start-up Retail Provider Led By Zach Dell, Officially Launches; Retail Pricing, VPP Strategy Revealed

May 7, 2024

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Copyright 2010-24 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com

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Base Power formally announced the launch of its retail electric and battery-powered home energy service in Texas, "with plans to expand nationally."

The creation Base Power, which is led by CEO and Co-Founder Zach Dell, and its focus on an integrated battery offer had been exclusively first reported by EnergyChoiceMatters.com last year

"Base is the first and only company to offer customers a home battery, monthly energy service, and installation all-in-one, with no requirement of solar installation," Base said

Base Power said that it will operate as a Virtual Power Plant

"The reason we were able to offer the battery at such low up front cost is that we use it to perform grid balancing operations, which we can monetize in energy markets. This pays back the $10,000+ up front investment that base [sic] makes in the hardware, while you still get the benefit of outage protection," Base says on its website

Base on its website states, "With Base’s beta technology, customers are protected from 97% of outages. As we improve our prediction software and battery network, backup duration and performance will improve over time."

Under Base's plan, Base owns the battery and handles any maintenance on the system. Base offers a 20kWh battery and 11kW inverter

Customers pay for installation, the cost of which is currently listed as $2,000

Base states on its website, "Base will make every effort to maintain a minimum state of charge of 20%. We'll also make attempts to charge your battery in anticipation of predictable, long-duration outage events. We are unable to write these commitments into the contract because unlikely technical faults in the battery could cause the state of charge to dip below 20% or fail to charge in anticipation of an outage. Most other batteries/generators will have similar 'no-guarantee' terms."

Base states on its website that it offers "subscription pricing" for electricity, with, "one fixed-price that you pay every month."

"No more guessing what you will pay at the end of every month, and no more seasonality in high bills," Base states on its website

There is a limit to the amount of kWhs a customer can use under the flat subscription rate

"If you use above 115% of your consumption in the same month from the previous year, you will be charges a per kWh figure that is stated in the contract. We ensure that this usage cap well above what you have used previously," Base states on its website

Quotes for electricity supply are custom, based on the customer

The initial retail supply contract is for 12 months. "We guarantee in our contract that our prices will be at or below average price of other retail electricity providers year over year," Base states on its website

"[W]e've committed ourselves to always being at or below the 50th percentile of comparable retail plans every time we renew your plan," Base states on its website

Base will cover up to $250 of a customer's early cancellation fee for switching from another REP

Base said that it is led by a team of engineers and operators from companies including SpaceX, Tesla, Anduril, Blackstone, and Apple.

Base has raised capital from Thrive Capital, Valor Equity Partners, Altimeter Capital, Trust Ventures, Terrain, and others.

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