Base Power and GVEC Partner on 2-MW Texas Virtual Power Plant to Boost Grid Resilience and Optimize Energy Costs
Key Insights
Guadalupe Valley Electric Cooperative and Base Power have launched a 2-MW virtual power plant in South Central Texas, integrating residential battery systems into new Lennar homes.
The VPP provides homeowners with blackout protection while enabling GVEC to manage transmission costs and engage in price arbitrage within the ERCOT market.
The partners are working to qualify the aggregated battery capacity for ERCOT’s Aggregated Distributed Energy Resource (ADER) pilot program, aiming to enhance grid flexibility.
Base Power is developing its own battery manufacturing capabilities in Austin, signaling future vertical integration and accelerated deployment of distributed energy resources.
Guadalupe Valley Electric Cooperative (GVEC), a South Central Texas cooperative, has partnered with distributed energy developer Base Power to launch a 2-megawatt (MW) virtual power plant (VPP). This initiative, which commenced operations in July 2025, integrates residential battery systems into new homes constructed by Lennar, providing critical blackout protection for homeowners while enabling GVEC to optimize grid operations through price arbitrage and transmission cost management in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) market. The collaboration underscores a strategic move towards leveraging distributed energy resources (DERs) for enhanced grid resilience and economic efficiency.
The VPP utilizes Base Power’s proprietary software platform to directly operate the home battery systems, which Base Power owns. This arrangement allows GVEC exclusive access to control the batteries, compensating Base Power for these rights. “GVEC has no direct relationship with our members in relation to this program,” stated Gary Coke, GVEC Power Supply Manager, emphasizing the streamlined operational model. The program has already seen nine battery systems installed, contributing over 100 kW of capacity and 225 kWh of energy, with projections to reach 20 systems by the end of July.
GVEC is actively operating the installed batteries for transmission cost reduction, particularly during ERCOT’s 4CP program, which manages peak demand from summer through September. Additionally, the cooperative will regularly dispatch the batteries for price arbitrage during periods of high pricing within the ERCOT market. A key future objective for the partnership is to qualify the aggregated battery capacity under ERCOT’s Aggregated Distributed Energy Resource (ADER) pilot program. Launched in 2022 with a target of harnessing 80 MW of flexible resources, the ADER program aims to streamline the integration of DERs, despite initial challenges related to battery registration processes.
Zach Dell, CEO of Base Power, confirmed the ongoing qualification process for ADER, noting that the batteries provide value to GVEC even prior to full ADER qualification, with increased value expected post-qualification. While current battery components are sourced from third parties and assembled in Austin, Base Power plans to introduce a fully designed and manufactured battery product from its Austin facility in the first half of next year. This strategic vertical integration aims to enhance control over the technology and accelerate deployment, further solidifying the VPP’s contribution to Texas’s evolving energy landscape.