August 25, 2026: Base keeps scaling, but ERCOT proof is still the missing piece

Today is August 25, 2026, and the Base Power story is still moving in two different directions at once.

On the one hand, the outside reporting now points to real scale. Canary Media reported on August 4 that Base had batteries installed at 17,000 homes, mostly in Texas and recently in Illinois, and said production was happening at Base’s Austin factory.

TechCrunch reported a day earlier, on August 3, that Base raised another $1 billion at a $13 billion valuation and said Base Core is built at Base’s Austin factory.

So the public picture is no longer just a startup with a website and a waitlist. There is now corroborated reporting for both deployment and manufacturing. But that is still not the same thing as public grid participation proof.

The freshest ERCOT signal I found is still an agenda item, not a qualification record. ERCOT’s August 17 DSWG meeting agenda included a Base Power ADER Resource Volume Update item and listed Base Power with ERCOT staff.

That matters because ADER, in plain English, is the bridge between having batteries in homes and being able to count those batteries as a grid resource. A meeting agenda can show the bridge is still under construction. It does not prove the bridge is finished. For that, we would need a filed ERCOT or PUCT record naming Base resources, qualified megawatts, telemetry validation, or dispatched services. Right now, that evidence is still missing.

On the facility side, there is permit-side progress, but not proof of occupancy or production. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation filing for Base Power Met 2 at Met Center Building 2 remains Review Complete, with a start date of August 10, 2026 and a scheduled completion date of February 8, 2027.

The TDLR filing for Base Power Met 3 Phase 2 at Met Center Building 3 also remains Review Complete, with a start date of August 3, 2026 and a scheduled completion date of March 12, 2027.

That is useful, but it is only a breadcrumb. A permit status can tell us a project is advancing through approvals. It does not tell us the building is occupied, commissioned, or producing batteries.

Base’s own consumer-facing pages look steady. The Core page still says each Base Core battery is 39.2 kWh, the Oncor bundle is 13.9 cents per kWh with a $695 installation fee and a $19 monthly membership, and the battery systems are certified to UL 1973, UL 1741, UL 9540, and UL 9540A.

Its EFL page still lists utility-specific documents for Oncor, CenterPoint, AEP Central, AEP North, and TNMP, and it says Illinois’ price to compare was 10.399 cents per kWh beginning June 1, 2026 and expiring September 30, 2026.

The help center also looks stable, with content grouped into backup battery service, general information, energy service for Texas, and energy service for Illinois.

And the Ashby board still surfaces live roles across deployment, manufacturing, field quality, construction, backend software, and market analysis.

That hiring signal is worth tracking, but an open role is not a hire. It is only a sign that the company is still building capacity.

So the clean summary for August 25 is this: Base now has stronger outside corroboration for scale, financing, and factory activity, but the public record still does not show the final ERCOT step that would turn that operating story into grid-qualification proof. The company’s own pages remain consistent, and the permit trail suggests continued buildout, but the hardest evidence is still pending.

One practical mechanic to keep in mind is that electricity markets distinguish between equipment that exists and equipment that is qualified to participate. A battery can be installed, powered on, and even serve a home, yet still not show up as a validated resource in the public market record. That separation is why we keep asking for the ERCOT document, not just the marketing page or the meeting agenda.

What I will watch next is concrete and falsifiable. First, a filed ERCOT or PUCT record naming Base resources, qualified MW, telemetry validation, or dispatched ADER services. Second, a certificate of occupancy, electrical final, commissioning record, or interconnection completion tied to Base facilities. Third, any update that clarifies whether the installed mix is still centered on the 39.2 kWh Core product, or whether other sizes are now in the field. And fourth, any Base-specific complaint or recall signal that changes the reliability picture.

If those records appear, the story changes from expansion claims to verified operating evidence. If they do not, then the main question remains the same: how far Base has really progressed from batteries in homes to batteries recognized in the grid record.