a16z-backed Base Power is offering cheaper electricity to the power grid that needs it most
a16z-backed Base Power is offering cheaper electricity to the power grid that needs it most
a16z 投资的 Base Power 正在为最急需电力的电网提供更廉价的电力
Energy storage startup Base Power began selling its massive home battery systems to residents of Illinois yesterday, Canary Media reported. 据 Canary Media 报道，储能初创公司 Base Power 昨日开始向伊利诺伊州的居民销售其大型家用电池系统。
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. 至关重要的是，这是该公司首次进军由 PJM Interconnection 运营的电网区域。PJM 是美国按覆盖面积计算最大的电网运营商，目前正竭力应对大量新建数据中心带来的电力压力。
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. 除伊利诺伊州外，PJM 的覆盖区域还包括北弗吉尼亚州，这是全球数据中心最密集的地区之一。这种高密度加上新增发电来源的匮乏，导致 PJM 区域内的批发电力价格在过去一年中几乎翻了一番。电力短缺情况已严重到该地区最大的公用事业公司之一 AEP 威胁要退出该市场。
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. Base Power 于两年前在德克萨斯州成立，旨在围绕家用电池构建虚拟电厂。Base 的电池容量从 25 千瓦时起步，比许多竞争对手的产品更大；该公司不直接销售电池，而是要求客户向其购买电力。在伊利诺伊州，其电价较公用事业公司 ComEd 低 25%。
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. 这家初创公司的切入时机也堪称完美。Base 目前在德克萨斯州运营着超过 500 兆瓦时的电池储能系统，在电价低廉时充电，并在电网最需要时进行调度。它进入 PJM 电网之际，正值该运营商因处理电力需求增长不力而受到外界审视。
PJM had paused applications for new generating sources starting in 2022, only reopening the queue in April. Unlike Base, its timing couldn’t have been worse — electricity demand has skyrocketed in the last four years. PJM 从 2022 年起暂停了新的发电来源申请，直到今年 4 月才重新开放排队。与 Base 不同，PJM 的时机选择极其糟糕——过去四年里，电力需求已呈爆发式增长。
Base’s rollout has gathered pace since October, when it announced a $1 billion round led by Addition. That round followed closely on the heels of a $200 million round which Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Valor Equity Partners led in April 2025. 自去年 10 月宣布由 Addition 领投的 10 亿美元融资以来，Base 的业务扩张步伐不断加快。在此之前，该公司还在 2025 年 4 月完成了由 Andreessen Horowitz、Lightspeed Venture Partners 和 Valor Equity Partners 领投的 2 亿美元融资。
Historically, PJM has been slow to adopt new technologies like distributed energy storage, but Base’s residential focus helps it do an end-run around the sclerotic grid operator. “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,” Zach Dell, Base Power’s founder and CEO, told Canary Media. 从历史上看，PJM 在采用分布式储能等新技术方面一直进展缓慢，但 Base 对住宅市场的关注使其能够绕过这家僵化的电网运营商。“我们在住宅用户的电表后部署容量，那里已经存在互联设施，因此我们无需在互联排队中等待，”Base Power 创始人兼首席执行官 Zach Dell 对 Canary Media 表示。