Corpus Christi, keep the lights on when the grid goes down.
On the Coastal Bend, hurricane season isn't an abstraction. It's a date on the calendar. VirtuGrid helps you get rooftop solar and a home backup battery with $0 upfront, so when the next storm takes down the AEP Texas grid, your home keeps running.
The Coastal Bend knows what the grid can't promise.
Living on the Gulf means living with this list:
Hurricane Harvey
Landfall at Rockport, just up the coast. Communities across the Coastal Bend went dark, some for weeks, while recovery crews worked through the wreckage.
Hurricane Hanna
A direct hit to South Texas that knocked out power to roughly two hundred thousand homes and businesses across the region in the middle of summer.
Winter Storm Uri
Even the coast froze. Blackouts rolled through Corpus Christi for days in temperatures the Gulf Coast was never built for.
Hurricanes will keep coming, that part isn't up to us. Whether your family rides them out with the lights on and the fridge cold, that part now is.
We bring the battery. You get the backup.
VirtuGrid serves homeowners across Corpus Christi and the Coastal Bend. Inside the AEP Texas service territory, where the retail electricity market is deregulated and you choose who supplies your power.
Your battery goes in
Licensed installers put in a home backup battery with $0 upfront. The program owns it, monitors it and maintains it for the life of the agreement, nothing for you to manage.
It joins the network
While the grid is up, your battery works alongside thousands of others across Texas to support it. That's the revenue that pays for the battery and helps keep your rate low.
Your home stays powered
The instant the grid drops, the energy reserved in your battery is yours and your home switches over automatically. How long it runs depends on the battery's charge and what you're using.
Your all-in rate on the solar + battery program starts at 12.9¢/kWh and rises 2.9% a year, with no monthly service fee, see the full breakdown on our Texas page.
Savings depend on your utility, usage and plan terms, and are not guaranteed.
What Corpus Christi homeowners ask first.
Is there really $0 upfront?
There's no purchase price and no install bill. The program covers the equipment and installation, and owns and maintains the system. In exchange, you take your electricity through our program for the term of the agreement. The full trade is spelled out in plain English on our main page.
What about a multi-day outage, like after a hurricane?
Fair question, coastal outages can stretch long past a day. How long a battery lasts on its own depends on its size and what you run. That's why the Texas program pairs the battery with rooftop solar, which can recharge it in daylight while the grid is down. That's what helps backup power last through a longer outage.
Do I qualify?
Generally you'll need to own your home in the AEP Texas service area and have a suitable spot for the battery. The fastest way to find out is the 30-second check. No credit check, no obligation.
See if your Corpus Christi home qualifies.
Three quick questions, about 30 seconds, no credit check, no obligation.
Start your assessment