Broadband over Powerlines is a bit of an iffy-technology and at best a neat experiment. But if you believe FCC chairman Michael Powell, it seems it is the greatest thing since the cable modem. And these days, he is touting BPL at every turn. Most people who I have talked to say that the transmission speeds are spotty, and interference is a big problem. (Perhaps that’s why it has not gotten out of the test stages everywhere?) Now apparently AT&T and PG&E (hey it is an official acronym day today - just made that up) are conducting a BPL-WiFi hybrid trial in Menlo Park trying to prove that BPL does work. Internet over power lines would provide a third method on top of DSL and cable, Powell insists, and told San Francisco Business Times, “This is something we want to see happen.” Now we all know what we want and what we get are two different things.