Officials with the Prairie State Energy Campus have begun spreading word through municipal officials that applications for power plant technicians are being accepted, a sign of progress for the large-scale energy project.

A notice sent from the company to various county and city officials says the application process is open to individuals with prior power plant experience, as well as individuals with experience in a manufacturing environment or continuous-type industry such as refining, steel mill work or chemical plant experience.

Applications are available on the company's Web site at www.prairiestateenergycampus.com.

A November update from Prairie State, owned by eight non-profit public power companies and Peabody Energy, states that 2,500 construction personnel were working on the site of the future 1,600-megawatt power plant and associated coal mine.

Construction of the coal mine is more than 40 percent complete, while the plant progress sits at about 33 percent and remains on schedule for a unit one completion date of August 2011 with a second unit set to follow in May 2012.

adam.testa@thesouthern.com

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