Base Power just notified me that they're now available in my area (77035). I am still on the fence about it. Price of electricity with the Base Power plan is down from 9c/kwh to 8.5c/kwh + delivery. I am still on the fence since my current electricity contract is about 6.8c/kwh+delivery. So getting Base Power would cost me about $300/year more at the higher electricity price. That adds up to about $500/year once you include the membership fee. That doesn't seem worth it just for me to avoid going out to plug in the generator when there is a short power outage. My neighborhood have unplanned outages three or four times a year. So that's like $100 per outage. Maybe it would be worth it for my elderly parents. EDIT: added '+delivery' to my current electricity price to avoid confusion.
Sorry, I mean 6.8c/kwh + delivery fee. I only shop flat rate plans, so I mentally block out the consistent Centerpoint delivery fees when I compare plans. So the Base Power plan is about 1.7c/kwh more than my current plan. I use 17,500 kwh per year so that adds up to $297.50 more per year from that 1.7c/kwh increase.
I wouldn't do Base Power. You can DIY the whole thing and not get tied into a contract. Going battery vs a gas generator is an apples/oranges comparison. Some people poo poo batteries (and/or solar) because you don't get the ROI. It really depends on what your primary goals are. You trying to save some money, trying to last a short-term power outage, you trying to last long-term power outage, you trying to go off grid, you trying to go green? etc etc etc. Batteries (and/or solar): Is great if you want instantaneous power with no interruption plus the added benefit of reducing your monthly power bill and you can do all this at a lower cost than a Generac. Nobody calculates ROI on a gas generator or a Generac, obviously. So not sure why people feel the need to undermine Battery + Solar and then say they would rather get a Generac. You are solving for different things NOW, if you want to go battery (and/or solar), and perhaps recoup some of your costs, you can do that by utilizing a time-of-use electrical plan. You can't ever recoup any of your costs with a generator. You'll pay >15k for a Generac and only use it a few times. Or you can pay 10k for batteries and use them every day, reduce your electric bill, and still be prepared for a storm. If you supplement the batteries with a portal generator, you can run perpetually but you only need to haul out your generator in extreme cases and you do so at your leisure before the batteries die. The rest of the time, which is most of the time, the batteries have you covered for 95% of the scenarios. Also, the batteries will work even if you are away for vacation and your fridge and security system stays on. To me, whole house batteries with a small gas generator is FAR SUPPERIOR to a Generac or gas generator alone. But that's just me. I'm happy to share my setup if you want to DYI it or can even help you spec it out. I believe in it so much, I signed up to the a distributor for Bluetti, but there are 3-4 brands out there that do modular whole-house battery setups.
I totally agree with you that a battery system plus a portable generator is ideal for power backup. Base Power has the option to add a portable generator inlet to their system. I already have a trifuel generator so I should be able to just plug it in during an extended outage. I am not opposed to diy a system, but the cost is my main concern. When I looked into it a while ago, a battery system that is capable of running my AC is going to be in the 7 to 10 kwh range and it would cost at about $7.5k for the battery and inverter. For the estimated cost of $500/year for Base Power, that's 15 years of payments. I wouldn't expect the battery to last that long, especially since I will have to mount mine on the exterior of the house. Not owning th Base Power battery also means that Base Power is responsible for maintaining/warranty the battery. If my own battery dies in year 13, I would be out of luck. So that's my mentality in looking at Base Power. I hate the idea of the another subscription, but the price seems right.
