a16z-backed Base Power is offering cheaper electricity to the power grid that needs it most

Base Power, an innovative energy storage startup, has officially begun selling its large-scale home battery systems to residents in Illinois, according to a report by Canary Media. This marks the company's first venture into the territory governed by PJM Interconnection, the largest electricity grid operator in the United States. PJM has been grappling with an overwhelming influx of new data centers, leading to significant challenges in managing electricity supply. The PJM region, which encompasses areas like Northern Virginia—home to one of the most concentrated data center clusters globally—has seen wholesale electricity prices nearly double in the last year. The situation has become so dire that AEP, a major utility in the area, has threatened to exit the market altogether. Founded two years ago in Texas, Base Power aims to create a virtual power plant that leverages residential batteries. Their offerings, starting at 25 kilowatt-hours, are larger than many competitors' products. Instead of selling the batteries outright, Base Power requires customers to purchase electricity directly from them. In Illinois, their rates are impressively 25% lower than those of utility provider ComEd. The timing of Base Power's entry into the PJM grid is particularly advantageous, as the operator has faced criticism for its mismanagement of rising electricity demands. Following a suspension of applications for new generating sources in 2022, PJM only reopened the queue this past April. Unfortunately, their timing coincided with a dramatic surge in electricity demand over the last four years. Base Power has made significant strides since its $1 billion funding round led by Addition in October. This followed a $200 million funding round in April 2025, backed by prominent investors such as Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Valor Equity Partners. Historically, PJM has been slow to embrace new technologies like distributed energy storage, but Base Power's focus on residential solutions allows it to circumvent the lengthy interconnection process. "We are deploying capacity behind the meter at the residential home, where an interconnection already exists, so we don’t wait in the interconnection queue," stated Zach Dell, the founder and CEO of Base Power, in an interview with Canary Media.