As energy prices continue to rise and power outages become more frequent amid extreme weather events, ComEd customers have a new option to help navigate both problems.

A giant backyard battery.

Base Power, an Austin, Texas-based startup, has made Chicago its second market for an outdoor battery system that promises to lower monthly electricity supply charges while providing up to two days of whole-home backup power during outages.

The 3-year-old energy company is carving out a unique niche with its residential battery power plant, which charges overnight when electricity is cheaper and then discharges back to the grid during peak demand, generating revenue for Base Power and savings for the customer.

“We’re basically making your home run on 4 a.m. power versus 6 p.m. power,” said Zach Dell, 29, co-founder and CEO of Base Power. “We’re time-shifting that electricity to balance the grid out and drive your prices down.”

Dell, a former technology investor whose father founded computer giant Dell Technologies, shares a similar entrepreneurial ambition for the nascent power company, with plans to eventually roll out nationwide.

Base Power has raised a billion dollars and enlisted a roster of high-tech talent from the likes of SpaceX and Tesla in a moonshot bid to transform the energy industry. The vertically integrated company builds its own batteries in an Austin factory and has grown to 20,000 customers in Texas.

“It’s gone incredibly well in Texas,” said Dell. “We are sold out months in advance in Texas, more demand than we could serve.”

The service officially expanded to Illinois last month, launching with a discounted $95 installation fee for the first 2,000 customers, the promise of a 25% savings on monthly electricity supply costs and up to 36 hours of whole-house backup power during outages.

While comparable home generators can cost upward of $30,000, there is no charge beyond installation for the Base Power 40 kWh battery backup unit, which is owned and operated by the company. The customer agreement does include a 12-year commitment with a $500 early termination fee, but the system has proved a compelling value proposition for early adopters.

Base Power is building a second factory and “pretty soon” will be able to produce hundreds of thousands of units per year as it scales up and expands to new markets across the country, Dell told the Tribune.

Next up is Chicago, with a focus on single-family suburban homes. Base Power is currently available in about a third of the market, limited by permitting requirements in some municipalities, with the company gaining ground community-by-community.

Omar Bashqawi, 49, an information technology executive from South Elgin, Illinois, became one of Base Power’s first Illinois customers in April after hearing about the service from a colleague in Houston.

Installation took a day and Bashqawi had to switch his ComEd billing from fixed-rate to hourly to take advantage of the overnight battery charging cost savings, but he said the overall process went smoothly.

Bashqawi said he’s already seeing substantial savings, with his ComEd bills dropping from about $350 per month last summer to about $250 per month this summer.

The battery backup has also seamlessly kicked on several times, including one extended outage that kept his whole home powered up without missing a beat. In the end, that alone has made the deal worthwhile for Bashqawi.

“Even if I was paying the same amount (for electricity), I’d still do it because I want a battery backup for my house,” Bashqawi said. “Because I cannot stand it when the power is out.“

Base Power was approved in March by the Illinois Commerce Commission to become an Alternative Retail Electric Supplier, enabling it to provide electricity to customers through utilities in the state.

The company is setting up a warehouse in Bloomingdale to target ComEd’s 4.2 million customers in northern Illinois. Dell said Base Power will be staffing up in Illinois at both the warehouse and a soon-to-open office.

“We’re going to hire hundreds of people in Illinois, electricians and technicians, and tons of people,” Dell said.

In a statement, Gov. JB Pritzker praised the arrival of Base Power as reflective of the state’s innovative grid policies.

“Base Power chose to expand in Illinois over other states because of the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act, historic legislation that encourages distributed energy storage and virtual power plants that will lower electric bills for working families,” Pritzker said.

A former technology investor at Thrive Capital in New York, Dell saw the broader opportunity to bring the same kind of innovation to the energy industry that SpaceX brought to aerospace. In fact, Base Power co-founder Justin Lopas was the former head of manufacturing at SpaceX, the rocket company formed by Elon Musk.

A primary driver of the Base Power opportunity is the skyrocketing cost of electricity.

ComEd customers have seen electricity supply charges hit record highs in recent years, in large part due to increased demand from data centers. Last summer, some reported triple-digit increases in their electricity bills due to the supply rate costs and high demand.

PJM Interconnection, which manages the electricity supply grid for 13 states, including ComEd’s 4.2 million customers in northern Illinois, saw near-record prices at its annual capacity auction July 14. The new price came in at $325 per megawatt-day, the maximum allowed under ‌a temporary cap imposed by regulators.

That means supply rates, which represent the cost of generating electricity, will stay at the current elevated level through at least 2028 for ComEd customers.

The supply charge represents about half the monthly bill and does not benefit ComEd, which makes its profit on the delivery charges. The utility nonetheless issued a statement of support for solutions like battery storage to alleviate peak demand and lower supply costs.

“We applaud Illinois energy policies like CRGA for advancing battery storage and clean energy technologies that strengthen the state’s energy future, enhance grid reliability, and help customers manage energy costs,” said Gil Quiniones, ComEd’s president and CEO.

While consumer groups urge caution about signing up for alternative retail electric suppliers that offer low introductory rates and then jack the price up at renewal, Base Power guarantees the 25% discount for the first two years and a subsequent rate that will meet or beat ComEd’s price to compare, assuaging that concern.

Sarah Moskowitz, executive director of Citizens Utility Board, which recently issued a fact sheet on the backup battery alternative, said the new option is worth considering for some homeowners.

“CUB will continue to monitor these offers to make sure they live up to their promises to customers, but after years of bad deals peddled by alternative suppliers, it’s encouraging to see CRGA spurring new options that can connect homeowners to backup battery storage while helping to make the grid more affordable and reliable for all Illinoisans,” Moskowitz said in a statement.

Luke Metzger, executive director at Environment Texas, a clean energy advocacy group, said Base Power has so far lived up to its promises in its home state, which like Illinois is a deregulated electricity market.

“They’ve been growing dramatically,” Metzger said. “In Texas, where people can choose, they must be providing a good rate or good service such that people are sticking with them.”

Early returns in Illinois have been positive as well.

The Chicago rollout must still navigate the patchwork of municipalities that permit the Base Power installation. On the North Shore, for example, the service is available in Highland Park but not in neighboring Glencoe. The company’s website breaks down availability by address and provides a platform for those that are shut out to lobby their community.

In the long run, Dell is planning to not only blanket the Chicago area, but the entire country, envisioning a Base Power battery backup in every yard.

“Every neighborhood in America,” Dell said. “America’s power company is the goal.”

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