Texas was the leading state with weather-related power outages since 2000, according to data collected by Climate Central analysts through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Form OE-417.
In 2023, Justin Lopas and Zach Dell founded Base Power Company with the focus of providing people with relief from power outages in Texas.
The company offers a backup battery intended to last over 15 years. According to Base Power Company, the battery is the most affordable backup power option currently available due to the company’s business model.
How it works
Individuals interested in the service can get a consultation to see if their home qualifies. Customers will switch to Base Power Company as their energy provider which, according to Dell and Lopas, will lower their projected electricity bills monthly. Then, the company will coordinate an installation time with the customer, and the battery will be installed within a few weeks.
With Base’s Gen 1 battery package, a customer is protected from 97% of outages, meaning outages that last less than 24 hours.
The backstory
After Winter Storm Uri in 2021, Dell began brainstorming ways to help individuals while also strengthening the Texas electric grid. When Dell met Lopas, their journey to creating Base Power Company took off, and they launched the company in 2023.
“The big thing I learned upon looking into this problem is that the grid needs a lot of storage, not only just for the more obvious reason—which is the wind doesn't always blow and the sun doesn't always shine," said Lopas. "More importantly, to make the grid far more efficient in and of itself, meaning you can reduce the amount of demand when there's times of peak demand, and you can increase the supply because you can discharge your battery back onto the grid. I think that was kind of the key insight in order to drive the business model."
Dell said his motivation for the company is to make people’s lives better by making their power less expensive and more reliable.
“The high level motivation is to make people's lights stay on and bills will go down,” Dell said. “I think Texas is a unique place in the country, and I feel a sense of active pride to make a difference in my home state.”
Behind the name
Lopas said the inspiration for the name came from their goal to offer Texans power security, especially amidst the state grid’s recent struggles.
“We wanted the name to exude the ethos of the company, which is, we're providing a solid base of bedrock, a foundation for the energy infrastructure in the U.S.,” said Lopas.
Digging deeper
Jared Greene, head of engineering at Base Power Company, said the company’s battery model differs from other backup power options because the company maintains ownership of the battery system.
“We are heavily incentivized to make sure that your system is maintained, because we feel responsible for it,” said Greene. “So the price, but also the lower burden for maintenance are some of the big benefits that make the Base batteries an even better experience.”
Greene said the company had an extensive testing phase of the batteries before launch.
“We had a million different checklists and test installations,” Greene said. “Whenever you do things like this, you create every situation that you think could occur and go through and spend days turning the lights on and off, plugging in heaters into a home, making sure it backs it up, testing the voltage, putting multimeters across the system. You have a big checklist of all of the different environments that the system could experience and also all of the different characteristics that you feel are really important in the product.”
The impact
Base Power Company customers Deborah and Kevin McNair first heard of the company through a friend in March. The couple said the backup power option was the perfect investment amid frequent outages in the Round Rock area.
In the six months they’ve had the service, Deborah McNair said they witnessed six outages—some of which they didn’t even notice.
“One night, there was a storm, and Kevin and I were sitting out just in the driveway, watching [it],” Deborah McNair said. “The light was on in the garage, and we had a fan going and I said, ‘I think I just heard one of our neighbors' generators come on.’ And it had, and our power had gone out, but we hadn't even noticed.”
In addition to the battery’s usefulness in outages, Deborah McNair said they have also seen a significant decrease in their monthly electricity bills—allowing the couple to enjoy the summer without worrying about air conditioning costs in the Texas heat.
More details
The company is currently focused on the North Austin area but plans to expand across other deregulated areas in the state such as Houston and Dallas.
Base Power Company has already installed over 120 batteries and currently has over 1,000 people on their waitlist for when the company begins to offer services in other Texas cities.
Quote of note
“The ultimate goal is to make sure nobody's power goes out, and everybody can afford electricity,” Lopas said. “We want to be a meaningful dent in the storage capacity of the grid.”
- 205 E. Riverside Drive, Austin
- www.basepowercompany.com
