The NYT has an optimistic overview (registration required) on broadband over power lines, calling it "the ultimate plug and play." A great line, but the piece doesn't do much to dispel the idea that utilities are wary of investing in the technology. The Times talked to Cinergy, the one power company that's begun offering commercial service, and that company is predictably bullish.

But a Washington utility responded that its main interest was in using the technology to improve its own service, creating things like Net-enabled, automatic power meters.

The FCC set the standards for this technology several weeks ago. On the same day, regulators gave the big phone companies a ruling they wanted, and immediately press releases came out saying SBC and Verizon would speed up their fiber optics deployments. But in the case of the power companies, it's been like standing in the middle of a field listening to crickets chirp.

Granted, this is a new business for them, and they need to proceed cautiously. But there are mighty few signs that they're proceeding at all.