Explosion at Xcel plant

[dflprincess]

http://www.startribune.com/local/16443436.html
Explosion reported at Xcel plant
By TIM HARLOW, Star Tribune
March 10, 2008

Xcel Energy officials said it's still too early to know what caused an explosion and fire that forced the utility to shut down one of its plants today.

Spokeswoman Mary Sandock said fire crews were still extinguishing hot spots seven hours after a small explosion at the Allen S. King coal plant in Oak Park Heights.

No one was hurt in the 5 a.m. blast, which happened in a building where coal is crushed before it is sent to the main plant, which is a few miles away. Sandock said Xcel is shutting down the coal crusher and nearby plant to assess the damage and to try to determine what led to the blast. She said the plant likely will be off line "a couple of days." There is no word on what caused the explosion, she said.

No one lost power as a result of the fire and no customers should not expect any outages while the plant is closed, said spokesman Tom Hoen.

Hoen said Xcel Energy will ramp up power at other plants or buy power from other sources to make up for the loss of 600 megawatts produced at the Oak Park Heights plant. Hoen said 1 megawatt of power serves about 1,000 homes.

[CubFan7125]

1. No Injuries

I am glad to see that no one was hurt.

[loveable liberal]

2. When I worked there....

The maintenance crew always said they were running the Kimg plant into the ground. If the explosion happened in the crusher it could be because coal dust built up and wasnt vented properly. Thats how the coal is used, its ground into dust and blown into the boiler.