Battery & virtual power plant plans
Octopus Energy vs. Energywell: Texas Home Battery Plans Compared
Two companies will now put a battery on the side of your Texas house for little or nothing up front, in exchange for control of that battery and a long-term relationship. Here is what each one actually costs, and what you give up.
Last reviewed · Texas Electricity Ratings
View ProvidersKey Takeaways
- Octopus Energy PowerStore and Energywell tie at 66/100 for very different reasons: Octopus is the only one with a path to owning the hardware; Energywell has the lowest rate and best-documented battery.
- On total cost, Energywell is cheapest, about $5,760 over three years at 1,000 kWh/month, versus $6,768 for Octopus. Over five years the gap widens to roughly $815 and $1,680.
- Against a plain no-battery fixed-rate plan, the battery costs you $11 to $43 a month depending on provider and usage, against $13,000 or more for a whole-home generator.
- Both make their money dispatching your battery into ERCOT. That is the business model, not a footnote.
- Every system is sized for hours of backup, not days.
The Short Answer
Octopus Energy - PowerStore
REP + Lunar Energy battery
66/100
Why it rates: the only one of the two that spells out how you end up owning the hardware. The $45 monthly battery subscription is more than double the other two.
Best for: people who want zero down and an eventual off-ramp to ownership.
Energywell
Elevate Energy, LLC · PUCT #10353
66/100
Why it rates: cheapest rate, nothing up front but a refundable deposit, best-documented hardware. The catch is a 15-year battery agreement and invitation-only enrollment.
Best for: homeowners not planning to move who care most about the monthly bill.
Full Ratings Matrix
| Octopus EnergyPowerStore, w/ Lunar Energy | EnergywellBattery + electricity plan | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall score | 66 | 66 | |
| Cost | |||
| Cost to get started | $0 down. | $0 equipment or install. $99 deposit, refunded after first bill. | |
| Monthly fee | $45/mo battery payment, fixed for 10 years. | $19/mo base charge. | |
| Energy rate | 8¢/kWh energy only, before delivery, for the initial 36-month electricity agreement. | 7.8¢/kWh energy only, before delivery. | |
| Rate protection | 8¢/kWh fixed for the initial 36-month electricity agreement. At renewal, you'll pay the electricity rates available at that time. | Lowest Rate Guarantee: if they can't match a comparable Power to Choose offer at renewal, you leave penalty-free and they remove the battery. | |
| Hardware | |||
| Battery & capacity | Lunar Energy battery, 30 kWh. | EcoFlow OCEAN Pro, 10 kWh modules to 40 kWh total. | |
| Backup runtime | About a day for critical loads. | Not published as an hour figure; depends on state of charge and load. | |
| Published specs & certs | Little hardware detail on the consumer page. | UL 9540B, IP67, flood resistant to 3.3 ft, built-in fire suppression, 24 kW hybrid inverter, 8-circuit smart panel, sub-10 ms switchover, 15-year equipment warranty. | |
| Works with your solar | Not specified | Not specified | |
| Generator port | Compatibility varies by generator brand and model. Confirm compatibility with Lunar before installation. | YesIncluded at no cost. | |
| Commitment | |||
| Contract length | 36-month electricity agreement within a 10-year battery agreement. | Two contracts: 5-year electricity term that renews, and a 15-year battery agreement. | |
| Path to owning the battery | Option to buy the system at the end of the battery lease. | None offered. Energywell owns and maintains the system. | |
| If you move | Not specified | TransferableContract moves to a new qualified buyer, no fee or penalty. | |
| Who controls the battery | ProviderLunar schedules charge and discharge; tops up ahead of forecast storms. | ProviderDispatched across the connected community during price spikes and grid stress. | |
| Access & track record | |||
| Availability | Limited initial rollout in deregulated Texas. | Invitation only or through partner channels. Homeowners only. | |
| Track record | Large international retailer; this Texas battery product launched April 2026. | New brand. Licensed REP behind it, but little independent review history yet. | |
| Pricing transparency | Headline numbers public; delivery charges quoted as a range. | Rate, fee, deposit and both contract terms stated plainly. | |
| Learn more | Octopus Energy | Energywell | |
Total Cost Over 3 and 5 Years
Advertised rates hide the differences. The only fair way to compare is to add everything up over the life of the contract.
- No-battery benchmark: 14.5¢/kWh all-in for a comparable Texas fixed-rate plan with no battery.
- Oncor territory. Excludes sales tax and any future TDU pass-through adjustments.
Why the delivery assumption doesn't change the answer: every plan here uses the same utility wires at the same usage, so delivery is an identical dollar amount in all three columns. Change it and every total moves together - the gaps between providers stay exactly the same.
Typical home - 1,000 kWh per month
| Plan | Up front | Per month | 3-year total | 5-year total | Effective all-in rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Energywell | $0$99 deposit, refunded | $160 | $5,760 | $9,600 | 16.0¢/kWh |
| Octopus PowerStore | $0 | $188 | $6,768 | $11,280 | 18.8¢/kWh |
| No battery, plain fixed rate | $0 | $145 | $5,220 | $8,700 | 14.5¢/kWh |
Large or all-electric home - 2,000 kWh per month
| Plan | Up front | Per month | 3-year total | 5-year total | Effective all-in rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Energywell | $0 | $301 | $10,836 | $18,060 | 15.0¢/kWh |
| Octopus PowerStore | $0 | $331 | $11,916 | $19,860 | 16.6¢/kWh |
| No battery, plain fixed rate | $0 | $290 | $10,440 | $17,400 | 14.5¢/kWh |
What the battery actually costs you
Subtract the no-battery benchmark from each total and you get the real price of the backup power - the premium you pay above a normal electricity plan for having a battery on the side of your house.
Energywell
$15/mo
$540 over three years at 1,000 kWh. Falls to about $11/month at 2,000 kWh, where the low rate does more work.
Octopus PowerStore
$43/mo
$1,548 over three years. The most expensive path, but the only one that ends with you owning the hardware.
For context, a professionally installed whole-home standby generator runs roughly $13,000 to $18,000 before fuel and annual servicing. On that basis both plans offer relatively inexpensive resilience - the argument between them is about terms, not price.
Read the five-year column carefully
- Only Energywell's rate is actually fixed for five years. Its electricity agreement runs a 5-year term, so that column is contracted.
- Octopus is fixed for 36 months only. The five-year total assumes the 8¢ rate carries into years four and five. It might not - there is no published renewal protection.
- The battery obligations outlast these windows. Energywell's battery agreement runs 15 years and Octopus's lease runs 10. A five-year total does not represent the length of what you are signing.
Octopus Energy PowerStore in detail
PowerStore launched in April 2026 as a partnership between Octopus Energy and battery manufacturer Lunar Energy. You get a 30 kWh Lunar battery installed with nothing down, an initial 36-month electricity agreement at 8¢/kWh before delivery, and a $45 monthly battery payment that remains fixed for the full 10-year battery agreement. The 8¢ electricity rate is not guaranteed beyond the initial 36-month agreement; when each electricity contract ends, you'll renew at the rates available at that time.
Lunar manages when the battery charges and discharges, buying when ERCOT prices are low and selling into peaks??"and topping the battery to full when a storm is forecast. You can view and manage your battery through the Lunar app, although some settings may be limited or locked so the battery can participate properly in the VPP program.
The differentiator: The $45 monthly battery payment is fixed for the full 10-year agreement, with a path to battery ownership when the agreement ends. The cost: $45 a month is more than double what Energywell charge, and the rollout is limited to a small number of Texas homes to start.
I would not add the generator or moving details here. Those are better in the FAQ because they're specific questions rather than core product-overview information.
Energywell in Detail
Energywell operates in Texas through Elevate Energy, LLC (PUCT #10353). The offer is 7.8¢/kWh before delivery, $19 a month, and no equipment or installation cost beyond a $99 deposit that is refunded after your first bill.
The hardware is the best documented of the three: an EcoFlow OCEAN Pro system in 10 kWh modules up to 40 kWh, with a 24 kW hybrid inverter, an 8-circuit smart panel, sub-10-millisecond switchover, IP67 sealing, flood resistance to 3.3 feet, built-in fire suppression and a 15-year equipment warranty. Energywell says it is the first residential system certified to UL 9540B.
Its Lowest Rate Guarantee is also the strongest renewal protection in the group: if Energywell cannot match a comparable fixed-rate offer listed on Power to Choose when your term renews, you can leave penalty-free and they remove the battery at no cost.
The trade-off: two contracts, and the battery one runs 15 years. Enrollment is currently invitation-only or through partner channels, and you must own your home. The contract does transfer to a qualified buyer at no fee if you sell.
Three things the matrix can't score
The rate comparison is not apples to apples
You are trading control for the discount
All three earn their money by dispatching your battery into the ERCOT market. Your battery may sit at partial charge on an ordinary day because the provider is arbitraging price, not because anything is wrong.
Long outages are still a problem
Both systems is sized for hours, not days. Past the point where the battery empties, you need the grid back or a generator to recharge it. Energywell support a generator input; confirm it in writing before signing.
Frequently Asked Questions
A virtual power plant (VPP) plan bundles a home battery with an electricity plan. The provider installs and owns the battery, then charges and discharges it across thousands of homes to support the ERCOT grid. The revenue from that grid participation is what lets them give you the hardware for little or nothing up front and hold your energy rate below market.
For both of these plans, yes - the battery comes bundled with retail electricity service, so the provider becomes your REP.
Octopus Energy PowerStore is $0 down. Energywell requires a $99 deposit that is refunded after your first bill, so it is effectively free to start.
On paper Energywell at 7.8¢/kWh, then Octopus at 8¢/kWh. But both of those are energy-only charges that exclude your utility's delivery fees of roughly 5 to 6¢/kWh. Once you add delivery to all three, the real difference is small - single-digit percentage points, not double.
Octopus's 30 kWh Lunar battery is described as running critical loads for about a day. Energywell does not publish an hour figure. In every case the real answer depends on the battery's state of charge when the outage starts and what you run during it - air conditioning, dryers and electric heat drain a battery in hours, while lights, Wi-Fi and the refrigerator barely register.
The provider does. Both companies decide when your battery charges and when it sends power back to the grid. You get an app showing status and usage, but you are not scheduling dispatch. During an outage the system switches to backing up your home automatically. Providers also pre-charge batteries to full when severe weather is forecast.
Only with Octopus Energy PowerStore, which gives you the option to purchase the Lunar system at the end of the battery lease. Energywell retains ownership of the hardware and handle maintenance themselves for the life of the agreement.
Octopus pairs a 36-month electricity term with a 10-year battery lease. Energywell is the longest commitment: a 5-year electricity agreement that renews, inside a 15-year battery services agreement.
Energywell transfers the contract to a qualified buyer with no fee or penalty. Octopus has not published a policy for the Texas program. Given that these agreements run 10 to 15 years, get the transfer and early-termination terms in writing before you sign - this is the single most commonly overlooked clause.
Solar is not required by either provider. Octopus and Energywell do not specify solar integration on their consumer pages. Home ownership is required - Energywell states this explicitly, and installation on all three involves permitting and panel work that a renter cannot authorize.
For short outages, generally yes: batteries switch over instantly and silently, need no fuel, and cost a fraction of a whole-home generator up front. For multi-day outages, a generator still wins, because it keeps producing power as long as it has fuel while a battery empties in hours. Energywell supports connecting a portable generator to recharge the battery during an extended outage, which gets you most of both.
Octopus PowerStore launched to a limited number of homes in deregulated Texas. Energywell is invitation-only or available through partner channels. Availability also depends on your electrical panel, meter location and HOA rules, all of which are checked during a site survey.
Energywell, at roughly $5,760 over three years for a home using 1,000 kWh per month. Octopus PowerStore to about $6,768 - its $45 monthly battery subscription is what puts it last despite requiring nothing down. Over five years the order does not change: Energywell around $9,600, Octopus $11,280. These totals include energy, delivery charges and all monthly fees.
Compared with a plain fixed-rate Texas plan at about 14.5 cents per kWh all-in, the battery premium works out to roughly $15 a month with Energywell, and $43 with Octopus PowerStore at 1,000 kWh of monthly usage. At 2,000 kWh those figures drop, because the lower energy rates offset more of the fixed fees. For comparison, a professionally installed whole-home standby generator costs roughly $13,000 to $18,000 before fuel and servicing.
Octopus Energy PowerStore FAQs
It depends on the generator. Compatibility varies by brand and model. We can collect the generator information and confirm compatibility with Lunar before installation.
Yes. You can view and manage your battery through the Lunar app. Some settings may be limited or locked so the battery can participate properly in the VPP program.
The battery stays with the home and cannot be moved to your new property. The new homeowner can take over the remainder of the battery agreement. If they decline, the battery will be removed and a $1,000 deinstallation fee applies. If you want to install a battery at your new home, you'll need to go through the installation process again.
No. The 8¢ rate applies to the initial 36-month electricity agreement and is not guaranteed for the full 10-year battery agreement. At the end of each electricity contract, you'll renew at the rates available at that time. The $45/month battery payment is fixed for the full 10 years.
How We Scored These
Each provider was rated on ten attributes, each on a five-point scale, for a maximum of 50 points, then converted to a 100-point overall score. All attributes are weighted equally. Ratings reflect terms published by each company on its own website as of July 2026, plus contemporaneous trade press coverage of the Octopus-Lunar launch. Where a company does not publish a figure, we score it lower rather than assuming a favorable value - and say so in the cell.
Pricing shown is for Texas and, where a utility must be specified, for Oncor territory. Your quote will differ by ZIP code, utility, home size and panel configuration. Always read the Electricity Facts Label and the battery services agreement before enrolling. This page is editorial and does not constitute a recommendation for your specific home.
Last reviewed . Provider names and trademarks belong to their respective owners.
