El Paso Electric and Base Power launch trial home battery system program
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA)- El Paso Electric (EPE) and Base Power announced Tuesday a new program that would allow El Paso Electric to install batteries in households, easing the demand of the grid during high electricity demand.
According to EPE, the batteries will be installed at qualifying residential customer homes and integrated into EPE’s system to deliver reliable grid services during periods of high demand, while preserving backup power for customers during outages.
The partnership was selected through EPE’s Residential Distributed Energy Storage Pilot Program (DESPP), which seeks to bring up to 10 MW of residential energy storage online ahead of the 2026 summer peak to address localized capacity constraints and improve system resiliency according to EPE.
“Distributed energy storage is becoming an increasingly important tool for utilities navigating load growth, extreme weather, and infrastructure constraints,” said Kelly Tomblin, CEO of El Paso Electric. “This partnership with Base Power allows us to add flexible, cost-effective capacity where it’s needed most, while maintaining operational control and delivering tangible reliability benefits for our customers.”
EPE says the company will manage the battery fleet, including dispatch, scheduling, and performance monitoring. While Base Power is responsible for system installation and ongoing maintenance, enabling EPE to deploy capacity efficiently without adding operational complexity. The battery systems are designed to operate independently of any existing solar systems at participating homes, according to EPE.
“We’re excited for the opportunity to support EPE in adding flexible, reliable capacity to its system,” said Zach Dell, CEO of Base Power. “By aggregating residential batteries into a utility-controlled resource, EPE can strengthen reliability, manage peak demand, and defer costly infrastructure investments - all while providing customers with meaningful outage protection.”
Home owners interested can see if they qualify here.
