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Base Power raises another US$1 billion in Series D financing for US residential BESS. August 5, 2026 Residential energy storage startup Base Power has announced a US$1 billion Series D financing at a US$13 billion post-money valuation, and the launch of its new home battery in production in Austin, Texas, US. Announced 3 August, Base Power is launching its 39.2kWh residential battery energy storage system (BESS) dubbed Base Core, in production at Base Factory 1 in Austin, Texas. By comparison, Base Core's capacity more than doubles the Tesla Powerwall 3's 13.5kWh capacity. Additionally, Zach Dell, CEO and co-founder of Base Power, claimed, "It installs in under an hour, switches over seamlessly, is built to handle extreme weather, and delivers extended outage protection at a price Americans can afford." Since that time, the company has been growing at an impressive pace. In February 2026, Base and utility El Paso Electric Company (EPE) announced a residential distributed energy resource (DER) pilot programme, seeing Base deploy a fleet of networked residential batteries in EPE's service region. In June, the company expanded to Illinois, installing BESS for customers in utility ComEd's service area. Base claimed that through its partnerships in Texas and Illinoi, it has expanded its fleet to over 500MWh. The Series D was led by VC and investment firms Ribbit, Addition, Valor Equity Partners, and JPMorganChase's Strategic Investment Group, part of the firm's Security and Resiliency Initiative, with participation from Altimeter, D1 Capital Partners, Sands Capital, Coatue, Layer Global, and Energy Impact Partners. Base's major existing investors are re-investing, including Thrive Capital, a16z, Lightspeed, Trust Ventures, CapitalG, and more. The company stated that the newly raised capital will be used for expanding the company's footprint, Base Core, and hiring. Market research firm Wood Mackenzie's Q2 2026 US Energy Storage Monitor, released on 23 June reported that the national attachment rate for residential BESS reached 45% in Q1 2026, up from 38% in Q1 2025 but unchanged from Q4 2025. California, Texas, Hawaii, and Arizona saw the largest quarter-over-quarter increases in deployed storage capacity during the first quarter. However, the national residential storage market is projected to contract 5% in 2026, driven by US residential solar installer Freedom Forever's bankruptcy, tax equity constraints, and updated permitting data indicating a sharper decline in capacity additions. Last month, residential renewable energy solutions company Palmetto launched its Palmetto Energy Backup Plan residential battery subscription in 25 states. The plan has no upfront payment and a fixed US$150 monthly fee for 12 years. It targets an estimated 4 to 4.5 million homes that have rooftop solar but no BESS. 8 September 2026 Barcelona, Spain Battery & Energy Storage Tech Europe (BESTE) is Europe's industrial scaling platform for stationary and industrial battery applications - not EVs. Taking place 8-9 September 2026 at Fira de Barcelona, BESTE brings together utilities, IPPs, energy-intensive industries, data centres, ports, rail, maritime, defence and aerospace OEMs - all deploying or integrating battery storage at scale. Over 100 companies already confirmed - including EDP Renewables, Acciona, Endesa, Naturgy, Neoen, Galp, Basquevolt and Veolia - alongside 40+ expert speakers and international institutional support from BEPA, BVES, LDES and Volta Foundation. Where Europe's battery & ES ecosystem turns projects into reality. 15 September 2026 San Diego, USA You can expect to meet and network with all the key industry players again in 2025 from major US asset owners, operators, RTOs and ISOs, optimizers, software and analytics providers, technical consultancies, O&M technology providers and more. 15 September 2026 Berlin, Germany Launching September 2026 in Berlin, Energy Storage Summit Germany is a new standalone event dedicated to Germany's energy storage market. Bringing together investors, developers, policymakers, TSOs, manufacturers and optimisation specialists, the Summit explores the regulatory shifts, revenue models, financing strategies and technology innovations shaping large-scale deployment. With Germany targeting 80% renewables by 2030, it offers a focused platform to connect with the decision-makers driving the Energiewende and the future of utility-scale storage.

Home batteries just got a lot bigger. Here's what that means for your storage decision. * Updated: Aug 05, 2026 * 9 min A home battery announced this week holds 39.2 kWh, nearly three times what a Tesla Powerwall 3 stores, and enough to run an average house for a day and a half on its own. Base Power's new Base Core launched alongside a $1 billion funding round that values the three-year-old company at $13 billion. If you've been shopping for home battery storage using last year's numbers as your baseline, it's worth pausing. The baseline just moved. Key takeaways * The new size ceiling is roughly 40 kWh, not 13.5 kWh. Base Power's Base Core stores 39.2 kWh per unit (78.4 kWh for two), next to 13.5 kWh for a Tesla Powerwall 3 and 13.6 kWh for a FranklinWH aPower2. * The money says investors think batteries are grid infrastructure now, not backup appliances. This is Base Power's third major raise since 2023, and it values the company at $13 billion. * "Bigger" doesn't mean "buy bigger." Base Power's giant batteries come through a lease-and-subscription model, not a purchase. Size and ownership are two separate decisions, and mixing them up is how people end up in a contract they didn't mean to sign. * Your sizing math hasn't changed. A bigger battery on the market doesn't mean your house needs one. It means the ceiling on what's available moved, which only matters if you were already bumping into it. What Base Power actually announced. Base Power, an Austin-based home battery company founded in 2023, announced on August 3 that it raised $1 billion in Series D funding at a $13 billion post-money valuation, bringing its total capital raised to more than $2.5 billion. The round breaks down like this: * Led by: Ribbit, Addition, Valor Equity Partners, and JPMorganChase's Strategic Investment Group * Also participating: Altimeter, D1 Capital Partners, Sands Capital, Coatue, Layer Global, and Energy Impact Partners * Returning investors putting in more money: Thrive Capital, a16z, Lightspeed, Trust Ventures, and CapitalG Base Power says the unit installs in under an hour and is built to keep working through extreme heat and cold. Alongside the funding, the company launched Base Core, built at its own Base Factory 1 in Austin, where it says it's now turning out thousands of units a month. A single Base Core stores 39.2 kWh; two paired together hold 78.4 kWh. CEO and co-founder Zach Dell pitched it on installation speed and grid resilience. COO and co-founder Justin Lopas tied the Austin factory to bringing storage manufacturing back to the US instead of importing it. Base's batteries are currently deployed in Texas and Illinois, with a combined fleet over 500 MWh, and the company has grid-services deals with utilities including El Paso Electric, Austin Energy, and CoServ covering more than 200 MW of capacity. Valor Equity Partners' Antonio Gracias, whose firm led the round, called Base the fastest, most cost-effective way to add grid capacity right now. That line is worth sitting with, because it tells you who this battery is actually built for. How big is 39.2 kWh, really? Numbers on a spec sheet are easy to skim past. Here's what 39.2 kWh looks like next to the batteries that have defined the residential market for the last few years. | Battery | Usable capacity (single unit) | Typical installed cost | | Enphase IQ Battery 5P | 5 kWh (modular, stack to scale) | Varies by stack size | | Tesla Powerwall 3 | 13.5 kWh | ~$12,000 to $16,000 | | FranklinWH aPower2 | 13.6 kWh | ~$12,000 to $16,000 | | Base Power Base Core | 39.2 kWh (78.4 kWh paired) | Not sold outright, see below | A single Base Core holds roughly three Powerwall 3s' worth of energy in one box. That's a real jump, not a marketing rounding error. It's the first time a mainstream residential product has landed in territory that used to take stacking three or four separate units to reach - and it's worth noting that route already exists, just piecemeal: Enphase's IQ Battery 5P is sold as a 5 kWh module precisely so homeowners can add capacity in stages instead of committing to one giant box on day one. Need a solar system installed? Fill out form and compare offers from solar professionals Here's the part that matters more than the kWh figure. Base Power doesn't sell the Base Core. It owns it, installs it on your property, and leases you the backup power. Based on how the company has publicly described its program, homeowners pay a modest upfront installation fee and a monthly service charge, then commit to buying electricity from Base Power at a fixed per-kWh rate for a multi-year term. Base's software charges the battery when grid power is cheap and discharges it, sometimes back to the grid, when demand and prices spike. Homeowners get a cut of that arbitrage profit. What's a virtual power plant (VPP)? A network of home batteries that a company coordinates like a single power plant, charging and discharging thousands of units in sync to help balance the grid. Participating homeowners get paid for the privilege. Base Power's entire business is built around this model instead of one-off equipment sales. Its read: this looks a lot more like a rooftop-solar power purchase agreement than a straight purchase of a stackable system like an EG4 battery. You get backup power and a smaller upfront bill. Base Power gets a fleet of dispatchable batteries it can sell grid services from, plus your electricity spend locked in for years. Neither of those is a bad deal on its face, but they're different deals, and the size of the battery box shouldn't be what decides which one you sign. Does bigger mean better for your house? Almost certainly not, at least not automatically. The 39.2 kWh number is impressive because it's new, not because your home needs it. Most single-family homes running essential circuits during an outage (refrigerator, some lighting, a well pump, part of the HVAC) get through comfortably on 10 to 15 kWh of usable storage. That's exactly why Powerwall 3 and aPower2 landed where they did. Homes that genuinely need something closer to Base Core's range tend to have a specific reason: whole-house backup that includes central AC, heavy daytime EV charging, or medical equipment that can't tolerate any gap in coverage. Practical advice: before a bigger number pulls you toward a bigger battery, pull your utility bill and work out your actual average daily kWh use. Then decide how many hours or days of backup you actually want, not the maximum available, but the maximum you'd realistically use. Buy vs. Subscribe: two different storage decisions. | / | Buy outright (Powerwall 3, aPower2, stacked Enphase) | Subscribe (Base Power model) | | Who owns the hardware | You | The battery company | | Upfront cost | Full installed price, financed or cash | Low installation fee | | Ongoing cost | None beyond your normal utility bill | Monthly fee plus locked-in per-kWh electricity rate | | Contract length | None | Multi-year commitment | | Grid participation | Full installed price, financed or cash | Low installation fee | | Best fit | Optional, opt-in VPP programs | Built into the product | | Upfront cost | Buyers who want an asset and full control over usage | Buyers who want backup power with low upfront cost and don't mind a long-term electricity contract | Neither column beats the other on its own. They fit different budgets and different appetites for a multi-year commitment tied to one company's rate structure. What to do before you decide. * Verify your actual outage-hour or outage-day target before comparing battery sizes. Most sizing mistakes happen here, not at the spec-sheet stage. * Ask any installer quoting a bigger system whether you're buying the hardware or leasing capacity, and get the total multi-year cost in writing either way. * Flag any quote that bundles a fixed-rate electricity contract with the battery, and read the rate-escalation and early-termination terms before signing. * Pause on chasing the largest available kWh number if your outage needs are modest. A right-sized purchase usually beats an oversized subscription. Base Power just showed the industry you can triple a home battery's capacity without adding a minute to the install time. Whether that's good news for you comes down to one question the marketing won't answer for you: are you buying a battery, or signing a multi-year contract that happens to come with one attached? Faq. Is a 39.2 kWh battery overkill for a typical home? Can I get a battery this big without leasing it? Does a bigger battery need more space or a bigger electrical setup? Am I required to join a VPP program if I buy a battery outright? Do your solar panels need cleaning? Fill out form and compare offers from solar professionals Alina has always been drawn to the intersection of technology and everyday life. Joining A1 SolarStore as a contributing writer, she brings fresh curiosity and a researcher's eye to the topics of clean energy and sustainability.

Base Power raises $1 billion at a $13 billion valuation to scale home batteries. Key points * Ribbit, Addition, Valor Equity Partners and JPMorganChase's Strategic Investment Group led the $1 billion Series D, which valued Base Power at $13 billion after the investment.[[1]] * Base says it has deployed more than 500 MWh of storage and is manufacturing its new 39.2-kWh Base Core system in Austin.[[1]] [[4]] * Named utility projects with CoServ, GVEC and Austin Energy total 190 MW, giving Base a route into regulated markets where households cannot choose a retail electricity provider.[[6]] [[7]] [[8]] * Independent research supports the potential for virtual power plants to reduce capacity costs, but customer enrollment and measurable performance remain significant barriers.[[10]] [[11]] * The company's expansion beyond Texas faces different market rules: Base is a licensed retail supplier in Illinois, while direct participation by distributed aggregations in PJM's energy and ancillary-service markets is not scheduled until 2028.[[5]] [[13]] Base Power has raised another $1 billion to expand its network of residential batteries, giving the three-year-old Austin startup a $13 billion post-money valuation as it pushes beyond Texas and increases in-house manufacturing.[[1]] The Wall Street Journal reported that the financing brought Base's total capital raised to more than $2.5 billion.[[2]] Ribbit, Addition, Valor Equity Partners and JPMorganChase's Strategic Investment Group led the Series D. Altimeter, D1 Capital Partners, Sands Capital, Coatue, Layer Global, Energy Impact Partners, Thrive Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed, Trust Ventures and Alphabet's CapitalG also participated. Michael Dell, the father of Base co-founder and CEO Zach Dell, did not invest in the round, TechCrunch reported.[[1]] A higher valuation and an in-house manufacturing bet. The round follows Base's $1 billion Series C in October 2025, which valued the company at about $4 billion. The new financing therefore more than triples its post-money valuation in less than a year.[[3]] Base has not disclosed its revenue, profitability or how much of the Series D will be allocated among factories, battery ownership, installation operations and customer acquisition. Base also introduced Base Core, a 39.2-kWh home battery assembled at its factory in the former Austin American-Statesman printing facility. Customers can receive one or two units, providing 39.2 kWh or 78.4 kWh of nominal storage. Base advertises up to 36 hours of backup under reduced household consumption, though actual duration depends on the home's load and how much charge remains when an outage begins.[[1]] [[4]] The company says its deployed fleet has surpassed 500 MWh. TechCrunch, citing The Wall Street Journal, reported that Base was installing about 100 batteries per day and hoped to double that pace by the end of 2026.[[1]] The published figures do not clarify whether "batteries" refers to individual 39.2-kWh units or household systems that may contain two units, so the associated daily megawatt-hour deployment rate cannot be independently calculated. Base owns and maintains the equipment instead of selling it to homeowners. In competitive Texas electricity markets, an affiliate operates as the customer's retail provider and uses the batteries to shift purchases and sales across periods of low and high power prices. A current Oncor-area offer lists a $695 installation charge and a $19 monthly membership for one 39.2-kWh unit.[[4]] Base previously outlined plans for a second Austin manufacturing site measuring about 486,000 square feet, with a proposed $265 million investment and 500 new jobs.[[14]] The company and Austin later ended negotiations over a municipal incentive package. Construction at the proposed site nevertheless appeared to be moving forward in March, according to the Austin Business Journal, but Base has not published a revised budget, production target or opening date.[[15]] Two business models across Texas and Illinois. Base's original model is concentrated in parts of Texas where customers can choose their retail electricity supplier. It expanded to northern Illinois in 2026 through Base Retail, an affiliate licensed by the Illinois Commerce Commission as an alternative retail electric supplier in ComEd territory.[[5]] In both markets, the retail relationship gives Base a potential revenue stream from electricity supply in addition to the battery's backup and grid-balancing value. Discover more Cloud Storage Mathematics Company Earnings In regulated utility territories, Base uses a different structure. The household keeps its existing utility, while Base installs and maintains batteries under an agreement that allows the utility to dispatch some of their capacity. Base's public pricing directory lists programs with CoServ, Guadalupe Valley Electric Cooperative, Farmers Electric Cooperative, Austin Energy and El Paso Electric, alongside its retail offers in Texas and Illinois.[[4]] The largest publicly detailed project is a 100-MW agreement with CoServ, a North Texas electric cooperative, targeted for completion over two years. Reaching that capacity could require roughly 5,000 participating homes. The contract is structured so CoServ pays for capacity Base actually delivers, an important safeguard when a utility relies on thousands of individually installed devices.[[6]] Guadalupe Valley Electric Cooperative has agreed to a 50-MW deployment and aims to have 20 MW operating by the end of 2026.[[7]] Austin Energy has contracted for another 40 MW. At full output, Austin's fleet will have about 90 minutes of duration, though it can discharge at lower power for longer.[[8]] Austin authorized payments of up to $4.08 million per year for as long as 10 years, at a fixed capacity price. Base is responsible for recruiting households, installing and maintaining the batteries, and ensuring that the contracted portion is available to Austin Energy for dispatch.[[9]] The public CoServ and GVEC disclosures do not provide comparable contract prices, making it difficult to assess those projects' cost against utility-scale batteries or gas-fired peakers. Discover more Computer Science Market trend reports What independent research says about grid savings. Independent analysis supports the broad premise that coordinated household devices can provide lower-cost peak capacity. The Brattle Group modeled a 400-MW virtual power plant and estimated its net utility cost at roughly 40% to 60% of the cost of a gas peaker or transmission-connected battery offering comparable resource adequacy. It estimated that 60 GW of U.S. virtual power plants could avoid $15 billion to $35 billion in capacity investment over a decade.[[10]] The study was commissioned by Google, an investor in Base through CapitalG, and did not evaluate Base's hardware or contracts. Research from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory adds an important operational caveat. Its work on demand-response potential found a wide gap between the economic potential of residential flexibility and what programs can achieve under ordinary conditions, with low enrollment rates a particular constraint for household programs.[[11]] Base must therefore prove not only that its batteries work, but that it can recruit enough eligible homes in each utility territory to assemble useful capacity. Residential batteries also address only some reliability risks. They can lower peak demand, provide short-duration capacity and keep an equipped home powered when the wider grid fails. They do not necessarily prevent outages caused by damaged local wires, poles or transformers. Berkeley Lab simulations of behind-the-meter battery adoption in Indiana found limited effects on overall grid outage metrics, underscoring the distinction between customer backup and systemwide reliability.[[12]] Regulatory access is another constraint. Federal rules require regional grid operators to create pathways for distributed-resource aggregations, but implementation remains uneven. PJM, which covers northern Illinois and much of the Mid-Atlantic, is not scheduled to open its energy and ancillary-service markets to these aggregations until February 2028.[[13]] Base can operate as an Illinois retail supplier today, but it has not publicly detailed how much revenue it expects from retail supply, peak management or eventual wholesale-market participation. The financing gives Base the capital to manufacture and install far more hardware. Its utility contracts will provide a clearer test than the funding round: whether the company can recruit households, meet dispatch instructions and deliver measured capacity often enough to justify the cost utilities and investors are taking on. Companies mentioned. At the intersection of AI, tech, and markets. The stories that matter, in one email. Free - unsubscribe anytime.