This stroy from the Texas State Senate appeared in the Friday edition of
The Dallas Morning News--Tom, WW5L.
Broadband power-line plan advances
Proposal to widen reach of high-speed Internet goes to state Senate
11:45 PM CDT on Thursday, April 21, 2005
By SUDEEP REDDY / The Dallas Morning News
The prospect of delivering broadband Internet service over Texas power
lines took a step forward Thursday after a Senate committee approved
legislation to encourage deployment of the emerging technology.
The idea of expanding the reach of broadband Internet has broad support,
recalling efforts over the last century to extend electricity service
and basic telephone access to rural areas.
But even with numerous pilot programs nationwide, the service has
struggled to overcome regulatory and financial hurdles for widespread
deployment.
"The challenge becomes who pays for it," the bill's author, Sen. Troy
Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, said at a hearing Thursday. "This is where it
gets complicated."
The legislation passed by the Senate Business and Commerce Committee
would allow utilities to contract with operators to install the
equipment for broadband-over-power-lines, or BPL.
Regulated utilities such as TXU Electric Delivery, a unit of
Dallas-based TXU Corp., would then pay the broadband operators for use
of the Internet service.
Electric utilities have promoted the legislation for its potential to
improve the power grid.
The service helps utilities monitor faulty power lines and immediately
dispatch line crews, or automatically read meters and process requests
to disconnect or reconnect electricity service
"That broadband signal is going to be everywhere that our electric
facilities go," Stephen Houle, vice president of corporate technology
for TXU Electric Delivery, said in an interview. "That opens up a whole
new book for us in what we can do."
TXU Energy, the company's deregulated retail unit, conducted a pilot
project last year at five homes in Irving. Dozens of other pilot studies
have been conducted nationwide.
Mr. Houle said broadband deployment across 70 percent to 80 percent of
the TXU Electric Delivery service territory could cost $300 million to
$500 million.
If approved, service could begin rolling out in a year.
An earlier version of the bill would have allowed installation costs to
be paid by all electricity users, regardless of whether they used the
Internet service.
The version approved Thursday, which now goes to the full Senate, would
require the broadband operator to pay for equipment installations.
"The rate payers are really unharmed. We'd be a customer just like
anybody else," Mr. Houle said of the regulated utility.
Tom "Smitty" Smith, director of Public Citizen's Texas office, urged
officials to consider auctions so consumers would receive the best
payback from BPL deployment.
"We have a very valuable commodity in the socialized power grid," he said.
Mr. Fraser and utility officials said that lower-cost operators should
be allowed to bid but added that the utilities need flexibility to find
the best BPL operators.
E-mail sreddy@dallasnews.com
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