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Conn. Powerhouse Explosion Kills 5

Fire marshals on Monday were preparing to start their investigation into a massive explosion that rocked an under-construction power plant where gas lines were being tested, killing at least five people.

A dozen or more others were hurt in Sunday’s blast, which was so powerful it alarmed residents who heard the boom and felt tremors in their homes miles away from the Kleen Energy Systems plant in Middletown, about 20 miles south of Hartford.

The explosion left huge pieces of metal that once encased the plant peeling off its sides. A large swath of the structure was blackened and surrounded by debris, but the building, its roof and its two smokestacks were still standing at the site, which is near Wesleyan University on a wooded and hilly 137-acre parcel of land overlooking the Connecticut River.

The Kleen Energy plant is seen in this aerial photo after an explosion in Middletown, Conn., Sunday, Feb. 7, 2010. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

The nearly completed 620-megawatt plant is being built to produce energy primarily using natural gas, which accounts for about a fifth of the nation’s electricity. Workers for the construction company, O&G Industries, were purging a gas line, clearing it of air, when the explosion occurred around 11:15 a.m. Sunday, Santostefano said.

About 50 to 60 people were in the area at the time, he said.

Kleen Energy Systems LLC began construction on the plant in February 2008. It had signed a deal with Connecticut Light and Power for the electricity produced by the plant, which was scheduled to be completed by mid-2010 and would be one of the biggest built in New England in the last few years.

Better Times Are Coming?

By Eric Martin and Lynn Thomasson

April 10 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose for a fifth week, capping the steepest rally since 1933, as Wells Fargo & Co.’s higher-than-estimated earnings and speculation banks will pass government stress tests spurred optimism that the industry’s slump is ending.

Bank of America Corp., American Express Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. helped drive a gauge of 80 financial companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to a 9.4 percent advance. Wells Fargo surged 20 percent after reporting record first-quarter profit. Lincoln National Corp. and Principal Financial Group Inc. jumped at least 37 percent as the Treasury considered bailouts for life insurers.

“This was a really, really positive start to the earnings season,” Hugh Johnson, who oversees $750 million as chairman of Johnson Illington Advisors in Albany, New York, told Bloomberg Television. “Banks are not going to be forced to take the kind of write-offs they had to take in prior quarters.”

The S&P 500 gained 1.7 percent to 856.56. It has soared 27 percent since March 9, the most in 23 days since the Great Depression, according to Howard Silverblatt, an analyst at S&P. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.8 percent to 8,083.38 this week. U.S. exchanges are closed today for Good Friday.

The highest U.S. unemployment since 1983 has forced consumers to restrain spending. The number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment insurance exceeded 600,000 for a 10th straight week. The total collecting benefits rose to a record in a sign that the labor market remains weak.

Hackers Have Already Embedded Code in U.S. Electrical Grid

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Computer hackers have embedded software in the United States’ electricity grid and other infrastructure that could potentially disrupt service or damage equipment, two former federal officials told CNN.

The code in the power grid was discovered in 2006 or 2007, according to one of the officials, who called it “the 21st century version of Cold War spying.”

The U.S. power grid isn’t the only system at risk. The former officials said malicious code has been found in the computer systems of oil and gas distributors, telecommunications companies and financial services industries.

Napolitano said the vulnerability of the nation’s power grid to cyberattacks “has been something that the Department of Homeland Security and the energy sector have known about for years,” and that the department has programs in place to fight such attacks.

Security experts say such computer hacking could be the work of a foreign government — possibly Russia or China — seeking to compromise U.S. security in the event of a future military conflict.

TVA Ordered to Clean Up Coal Fired Power Plants

(CNN) — A federal judge has ordered the Tennessee Valley Authority to clean up four coal-fired plants that he said were engulfing parts of North Carolina with air pollution — emissions that fouled the region’s health, economy and natural resources.

Properties near ground zero of the December 22 Tennessee spill are covered in sludge.

“I’m pleased that the court ordered the TVA to clean up the air pollution coming from its plants closest to North Carolina,” said North Carolina Attorney General Ray Cooper. “This will help our air, our health, and our travel and tourism industry.”

The Tuesday ruling from U.S. District Judge Lacy Thornburg of North Carolina calls for TVA, the federally-sponsored utility, to meet specific time limits for pollution reduction at the plants closest to the state — three in eastern Tennessee and one in Alabama. Thornburg also ordered the agency to clean up faster and reduce pollution more than required under federal law.

The court concluded “that TVA’s generation of power at low cost to the consuming public has a high social utility” and says “the vast extent of the harms caused in North Carolina by the secondary pollutants emitted by these plants outweighs any utility that may exist from leaving their pollution untreated.”

Started a new job in Masontown, Pennsylvania today.

A little background information for those of you not associated with the IBEW,  (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers).

I was able to secure this job because I am a proud member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW).

During these times of economic upheaval and uncertainty, I’m very grateful to be a member of the IBEW.

We are the people that help keep the power flowing to this great country of ours.

I picked up a call in Masontown, PA,  IBEW Local 5 Belle Vernon’s Jurisdiction of the Pittsburgh area.

IBEW Local 5 provides Pittsburgh and the surrounding areas with the most highly trained and qualified electricians in the U.S.

I’m working at the Hatfield Powerhouse in Masontown, PA.

We are currently working for Chapman Electric on the wastewater clarification process of the scrubber project.

Casteel Electric has the the bulk of the scrubber project and have been working 5-10′s.  They are still erecting steel and duct work on their side of the job.  That would be the call to pick up in my opinion.