HOUSTON -- Note: The following story is a verbatim transcript of an Investigators story that aired on Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2008, on KPRC Local 2 at 10 p.m.

Local 2 Investigates examines what could be a long-term solution to the massive power problem we experienced following Hurricane Ike.

Researchers at Rice University say they are close to discovering a new way to get power to your home. It has less wires, potentially lower costs, and even has a way to store two weeks worth of electricity inside your house.

So why won't the federal government help pay for the research?

Local 2 investigative reporter Amy Davis shines the light on a new electrical grid fighting just to get off the ground.

Lighting candles and running generators was just part of the daily routine living in the dark after Hurricane Ike. Millions across Houston were not only without power, they were powerless to do anything about it.

"If something like Ike doesn't do it, what will do it for us?" said Dr. Wade Adams, director of the Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology at Rice University.

Adams says what's happening inside the institute's lab could be the birth of a entirely new electrical grid -- rewiring how we move electricity. It would be more energy-efficient, with potentially cheaper electric bills, and it would contain stronger wires that could better survive a storm.

"We're using the same technology which fails over and over and over again in the exact same way it did last time, and not putting new technology that will prevent that kind of failure the next time around," Adams explained.

The research is all centered on what are called carbon nanotubes -- tiny carbon material would be transformed into hair-thin wires. In theory, the wires could carry more electricity with smaller and fewer power lines.

"It's more efficient, operating without loss and capable of carrying much more power on single wires. Then you could have a grid that's not so obvious in the landscape and still carry the electricity we need," Adams said.

Local 2 Investigates first talked with Adams this summer about the ability for these new power lines to transmit electricity generated from wind farms or solar panels to customers anywhere in the world.

Right now, current power lines are less efficient and can't stretch long distances. That's one reason why there are no electric lines running from West Texas wind turbines directly to Houston.

Now, in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, this research at Rice is turning new heads. Fewer poles and power lines could mean fewer chances of outages following a storm. The new wires could also be more easily placed underground.

In addition, the plan would be less reliant on major power lines, creating a more de-centralized grid.

Adams says that means a main power outage during a storm would affect fewer customers.

For all those in the dark after Ike, one other piece of the Rice project could have been life-changing following the storm.

Adams says the research is close to developing an electricity storage system the size of a washing machine. It's a system that could potentially power your home for up to two weeks and only cost approximately $1,000.

Currently, Adams says a back-up electric battery system to power your home would have to be the size of a garage and cost approximately $50,000.

"What we need is something that's going to be 10 times or 20 times better than the batteries today so that you'll have a smaller unit for you to survive on," said Adams.

So far, Adams says the federal government isn't completely interested in helping this new electrical grid survive. Funding for all the research has been hard to get.

Adams says it's likely because the high-risk, high-reward plan could take a decade just to develop. Add on a $25 million to $50 million price tag and many politicians are backing away.

However, Adams says when you consider the billions of dollars being spent just to re-build Houston's current electrical system after Ike, the Rice research may be a bargain. Adams is now hoping city and county leaders may help lead the push for the research.

"We're all covering the costs of recovering from these natural disasters, yet we won't put the money into the new infrastructure we need," said Adams.

The institute at Rice is named after its founder, Nobel Prize winner Richard Smalley.

Smalley had a dream to use the nano technology to not only build a new electrical grid, but to use that same technology to revolutionize the way drugs are used to treat diseases.

Smalley died in 2005 after a long battle with cancer.