The Internet in your power lines? Not here

A CenterPoint Energy pilot program to deliver broadband Internet access over power lines seems to have turned out to be a flop — at least for now. CenterPoint began offering Broadband over Power Lines to a Greenway Plaza-area neighborhood last year, which allowed users to plug modems into their electrical sockets and surf the web faster than a standard broadband or DSL connection. Though it apparently worked, the company decided BPL isn't right for Houston, probably because there's already so much competition in Houston:

"Clearly, this is a market a lot of utilities have bounced in and out of," said David Willis, chief of communications research at Gartner. "The timing in this is difficult, because they're in the midst of a price war between DSL and cable.

"The best strategy for a utility company is to go where there is no competition — underserved, possibly rural areas."

Underserved rural areas — or Dallas. TXU plans to begin installation of BPL technology in North Texas later this year, with the goal of eventually offering it to 2 million customers in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Not only will the technology allow customers high-speed Internet access, but it'll let TXU install fancy automated electric meters and monitor the state of its power grid. Though CenterPoint isn't expected to offer BPL to individual customers, it will likely use it to track the health of its equipment. In the meantime, Houstonist guesses we'll have to keep accessing the Internet through our toaster.