The intertwined history of the internet and electricity has been a tortured one, following a boom and bust cycle.

Internet giant Google and a pair of Midwestern electric utilities are betting that this time is different.

Great Plains Energy and Kansas City Power & Light have signed an agreement with Google and the Kansas City, Missouri municipal government to provide Google with access to its electrical infrastructure as the internet search company builds out its Google Fiber project. Google Fiber plans to bring fiber optic communications technology providing very fast internet speeds.

The agreement brought out the hyperbole in the executives involved.

“We can only begin to imagine the benefits and possibilities,” Great Plains and KCP&L chairman and CEO Mike Chesser said in announcing the agreement. “Imagine the economic development potential,” he added.

“Just as the move from dial-up to broadband led to new and unpredictable innovations, we believe ultra high-speed bandwidth will push the web to even greater heights,” Google Vice President for Access Service Milo Medin said.

The agreement gives Google access to the utility’s poles, infrastructure and existing fiber network, reducing the need for engineering, permitting and construction lead-times or investment.

Electric utilities, with their miles of existing through-ways for power cables and literal access to almost every home in the US, have long been obvious partners for internet firms seeking to extend their reach.