Rural Electric Cooperatives Looking At Satellite Over BPL
The NARUC broadband over power line (BPL) task force soon will “switch gears” to look into homeland security and regulatory issues, Mich. PSC Comr. Laura Chappelle, who heads the panel, told us. The group of state regulators is trying to distill facts on BPL’s potential for rural broadband connectivity, she said: “We are trying to find out what the status is -- if it’s increasing and, if it’s not happening, why isn’t it happening?”
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Chappelle said it was evident from conversations with the National Rural Telecom Coop (NRTC), the telecom arm of electric cooperatives, that “they are not looking at BPL as much as they are satellite.” But she said she sees room for optimism in work being done by South Central Ind. Rural Electric Membership Cooperative, which has invested in a “pretty extensive” BPL trial. Asked if her group’s analysis of rural BPL had eased skepticism about the technology’s potential in rural and underserved areas, Chappelle said “it’s still there. We are still talking about it.”
In very remote, very sparsely populated areas, satellite is likely to be a better solution than BPL, said Steven Collier, NRTC vp-emerging technologies. BPL is cost-effective where there’s consumer density, he said. That’s why the 2 commercial deployments so far are both cities -- Manassas, Va., and Cincinnati, O.
The group soon will be dealing with “fundamental issues regarding our regulatory concerns,” said Chappelle, but “it’s hard to really to get into the regulatory concerns. It’s one of those ‘What comes first, the chicken or the eggs?'” Some believe if states or the federal govt. gave clearer regulatory pictures, BPL investments would pick up, she said: “I don’t know if it’s true or not, but those are some of the questions I have from my federal counterparts.”
The panel wants to know what would “kick-start” BPL, said Chappelle, musing about whether an FCC declaration that BPL is an information service would help. Another incentive might be if the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) were to say there’s value to utilities having a “smart grid” using BPL, agreeing to fund infrastructure upgrades and urging states to consider doing the same. “Does that lend clarity and certainty that will spur the technology a lot?” Chappelle asked.
She said the Supreme Court Brand X ruling could make it easier for the FCC to extend the same classification for BPL. But some state regulators have indicated broadband services offered by utilities won’t fit the same category as those provided by others. That was because utilities are guaranteed a rate of return, those regulators said, justifying their interest in probing open access requirements. Due to lack of demand as yet, pole attachment rates and terms are 2nd- or 3rd-tier issues, she said. “Nobody has come up to me and said,'we are not doing BPL because pole attachment rates are too high or the terms are too unjust.'”
However, utilities ask why they should get into BPL, she said: “We are not even sure the Commission (PSC) after the fact would approve our expenditures for our infrastructure. So why should we do this?” That’s an example of a first-tier regulatory issue, Chappelle said. She said the task force will present a report at the Nov. NARUC meeting, predominantly addressing rural issues and status of rural BPL deployment.
The NRTC is conducting its own study on rural BPL, Collier said. Pilot programs in Fla. and Md. will measure BPL performance on rural distribution feeders, looking at speed, latency and impact on throughput when signals are regenerated, he added. Technology now available requires installation of repeaters every 1/2-3/4 mile, he said: “That’s a bit problematic in rural America where a feeder might be 20 miles long.” NRTC expects to issue an interim report by end of Oct. and a final report by Jan., he said.