How Base Power plans to use its fresh $1B

18 snips

Oct 9, 2025

Zach Dell, Co-founder and CEO of Base Power, shares insights on his company’s innovative approach to residential battery solutions and recent $1 billion funding boost. He discusses the advantages of their vertical integration strategy for lowering costs compared to utility-scale options. Zach also explains how Base Power provides reliable backup energy while generating revenue through unique business models in ERCOT. The conversation highlights the growing acceptance of distributed batteries by utilities, underscoring a shift towards more sustainable energy solutions.

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INSIGHT

Company As A Modern Gen-Tailer

Base Power positions itself as an electricity provider that installs, owns, and operates home batteries while selling retail power to homeowners.
Zach Dell frames the company as a modern gen-tailer that uses distributed batteries instead of thermal plants to supply capacity.

ADVICE

Guarantee Backup With Minimum Reserve

Guarantee a minimum reserve for customers by design to protect backup availability during outages.
Base guarantees 20% state-of-charge and plans larger systems so reserves equal a full smaller battery for reliability.

INSIGHT

Vertical Integration Lowers Landed Cost

Vertical integration lets Base avoid land, interconnection, and development costs that burden utility-scale projects.
They also design and manufacture batteries to capture margin above commoditized cells and lower total landed cost.

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Yesterday, Base Power announced a $1 billion series C, giving the residential battery company an eye-popping $4 billion post-money valuation. Base manufactures, installs, owns, and operates residential batteries — a vertical integration strategy that CEO Zach Dell says is the “magic” to beating utility-scale batteries on CapEx. The company also acts as an electricity retailer and sells generation capacity.

So how does Base’s business model work? And what will it do with its new fundraise?

In this episode, Shayle talks to Zach about Base’s business model, the vertical integration strategy, and the challenges ahead. They cover topics like:

The customer value proposition: how customers pay for backup power and Base uses the batteries for grid services

Bases’s “gentailer” business model in ERCOT, earning revenue from monthly customer fees, retail electricity sales, and battery arbitrage

The regulated market approach, where Base sells capacity directly to utilities

Base’s vertical integration strategy: from ground-mounted designs to decoupled installation processes

Challenges like managing a fixed workforce amid fluctuating demand and the declining price volatility in ERCOT

Resources:

New York Times: Base Power, a Battery-Focused Power Company, Raises $1 Billion

Open Circuit: Is this moment for distributed energy different?

Catalyst: Is now the time for DERs to scale?

Credits: Hosted by Shayle Kann. Produced and edited by Daniel Woldorff. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is our executive editor.

Catalyst is brought to you by EnergyHub. EnergyHub helps utilities build next-generation virtual power plants that unlock reliable flexibility at every level of the grid. See how EnergyHub helps unlock the power of flexibility at scale, and deliver more value through cross-DER dispatch with their leading Edge DERMS platform, by visiting energyhub.com.

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