Abstract: A power and communication system for a building, and particularly a residential dwelling wherein there are provided a plurality of receptacles throughout the building, each connected by a cable to source, which may provide different voltages and either AC or DC and having a control interface for selectively switching the desired power to each cable individually. The control interface may also connect each cable to a selected signal transmission line, such as telephone, radio, TV, etc. The cable includes a pair of power conductors and a optical fiber which transmits to and receives from the control interface light signals informing the control interface what power or communication connection is required for a particular receptacle and possibly at the same time providing signal messages to each receptacle.