Farmers Electric Cooperative Launches Base Power Home Backup Battery Program for Members

Farmers Electric Cooperative and Austin‑based Base Power are rolling out the first residential battery program in Farmers’ service area to give members in Rockwall County and northeast Texas automatic whole‑home outage protection while adding 20 MW of 24/7 dispatchable grid capacity. Installations are slated to begin in January 2026, Farmers’ program pages say, and members can check home eligibility now.

Base Power will deploy a fleet of networked residential battery systems that Farmers says “automatically detects the loss of grid power and within milliseconds, disconnects your house from the grid and keeps your power on. At that point, the battery supplies energy exclusively to your home. Once the outage is over, your battery seamlessly reconnects your house to the grid and resumes normal operation.” Base will manage installation, maintenance, and service for the life of the battery, the co‑op and Base materials state.

The hardware cited in program materials is an 11.4 kW / 25 kWh battery system per home, and Base will aggregate those systems into a 20 MW distributed, 24/7 dispatchable resource to shave system peaks and perform energy arbitrage using its proprietary algorithms. Farmers’ member messaging and Base materials describe the deployment as front‑of‑the‑meter so that “members experience zero impact to their electricity bill” while the fleet provides grid services to support regional load growth.

Zach Dell, CEO of Base Power, said in Base messaging, “We are excited to welcome the Farmers [Electric Cooperative] membership into a growing community of Texans who are seeking more reliable and affordable backup power.” He added, “With our distributed battery platform, we can add meaningful, dispatchable capacity to support growth while providing households with protection against outages.”

Farmers’ consumer pricing and marketing copy frames the offer as an affordable alternative to generators: “This protection would normally cost over $18,000, but by using the batteries to support the grid in times of need, Farmers and Base can offer it for only $695 upfront and $19 a month.” The co‑op further advertises an introductory incentive: the first 200 Farmers EC members to sign up with Base get a 50% discount on the upfront cost. Farmers members can reach a Base Energy Advisor at (512) 518‑1009; Farmers Electric’s main office is listed at 2000 Interstate 30, Greenville, TX 75402, phone (903) 455‑1715.

Program rollout language also says Base “plans to deliver the capacity over the next year,” creating a deployment window tied to the January 2026 installation start. Farmers and Base materials do not yet detail contract ownership or how revenues from grid services will be allocated; Farmers’ site emphasizes that member bills are not impacted by the front‑of‑the‑meter configuration.

Separately, Farmers Rural Connect offers a smaller, distinct backup option for optical network terminals. That program lists Cyber Power Calix units with estimated standby times of 8 hours (Calix 100‑04068) and 24 hours (Calix 100‑05345), $0 at install and $5 or $15 per month after install, and a Farmers Rural Connect contact at (870) 523‑3691. As Farmers notes, ONT backup batteries do not power other home devices.

The Farmers‑Base partnership positions cooperative members in Rockwall County to gain household outage protection starting January 2026 while contributing a sizable, distributed resource to the regional grid as the DFW Metroplex continues to grow.