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

Energy storage startup Base Power began selling its massive home battery systems to residents of Illinois yesterday, Canary Media reported . Crucially, it’ll be the startup’s first foray into the grid territory operated by PJM Interconnection, the largest U.S. grid operator by territory, and one that has particularly struggled to cope with an onslaught of new data centers. Beyond Illinois, PJM’s territory includes Northern Virginia, one of the densest data center regions on the planet. That density, coupled with a paucity of new generating sources, has caused wholesale electricity prices in PJM to nearly double over the past year . The power crunch has gotten so bad that AEP, one of the region’s largest utilities, has threatened to leave the market. Base Power launched two years ago in Texas to build a virtual power plant centered around residential batteries. Base’s batteries, starting at 25 kilowatt-hours, are bigger than many of its competitor’s, and rather than sell the batteries, it requires customers to buy electricity from it. In Illinois, its rates are 25% below utility ComEd’s. The startup’s timing has also been impeccable. Base is currently operating more than 500 megawatt-hours of battery storage in Texas, charging when electricity prices are cheap and dispatching them when the grid needs it most. Its entry into the PJM grid comes at a time when the operator has come under scrutiny for bungling its handling of rising electricity demand. …