[TowerTalk] BPL Article

[Tom Anderson]

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 at dallasnews.com