CNN Reports 2 Dead in Connecticut Power Plant Blast; "Mass Casualties" According to Police

CNN reports that local affiliate WTNH is covering an explosion at a Connecticut power plant 15 miles from Hartford. Authorities, who are still on the scene at 1:30 P.M. Eastern Time, can confirm only two dead because they are still searching for missing people. The explosion was felt as far away as fifteen miles. Residents were saying on Twitter that they thought it may have initially been an earthquake according to WTNH.

Because the story is so new, details still are sketchy. Some reports say at least 300 people were in the Kleen Energy building, currently under construction as a natural gas and oil plant. The explosion occurred at roughly 11:30 A.M. local time. Witness Bernadette Nyland told WTNH that the explosion "blew up flames and came shooting up almost as tall as that stack," referring to the plant's smokestack.

Kleen Energy

Kleen Energy is a company based in Middletown, Connecticut, that uses natural gas and oil to generate power from a 620 MegaWatt generator inside the plant. The project was scheduled to be nearly complete by July 1, 2010, according to iStockAnalyst in September, 2009.

Once operational, the plant would be under a fifteen year contract with Connecticut Light & Power to deliver power to the region. The company would be compensated with fixed payments over time.

Gas to Make Electricity

According to Power Scorecard, using natural gas to make electricity has about half of the carbon dioxide emissions as coal fired plants. The drawback is that methane can be a byproduct which is also believed to be a strong greenhouse gas.

Newer natural gas power plants use gas turbines to generate electricity as opposed to steam turbines that use steam to turn the power turbines. The natural gas is burned, superheated, and then pressurized to turn the turbines completely bypassing the step needed to heat water. Therefore, the plant burns far fewer fossil fuels than it would if it need to heat water.

NaturalGas.org states that half of the additional new megawatts of power produced in 2009 came from new natural gas fired turbines. Coal is still the number one way America gets its electrical energy, and in 2007 natural gas was the second most popular choice for power generation even ahead of nuclear power plants. As America's power becomes more diversified, natural gas plants are equally as safe as any other form of power generation.