SDG&E; to Offer Broadband Service Over Electric Lines

San Diego Gas & Electric Co. said Tuesday that it would launch a pilot program offering some customers broadband Internet access over power lines, making it the first electric utility in the state to test the latest high-speed technology.

But the broadband connection would be a byproduct of what the utility really wants: a way for customers and the company to better manage electric service.

SDG&E; spokesman Ed Van Herik said the company had not yet ironed out many details of the test, including how many customers would be included.

The utility, a unit of San Diego-based Sempra Energy, serves San Diego County and south Orange County, where the broadband providers are primarily regional phone giant SBC Communications Inc. and cable companies such as Cox Communications Inc.

An SDG&E; executive, Lad Lorenz, revealed the pilot project at the end of a daylong hearing on the status of broadband deployment. The meeting was held in the San Francisco offices of the state Public Utilities Commission, which issued a preliminary report on broadband deployment statewide.

Lorenz said SDG&E; wanted to make sure that broadband over power lines, or BPL, could provide customers such services as minute-by-minute prices to help them manage their use of electricity. The network also would have to provide the utility with some operational benefits, such as precise data on any problems with the lines, he said.

The municipal utility in Manassas, Va., the only city entirely covered by BPL, also powers such services as traffic cameras to help monitor congestion and other problems. Coming up with a profitable business model has been the primary deterrent to expanding BPL.

Shares of Sempra rose 38 cents to $39.38 on the New York Stock Exchange.