HAMILTON TOWNSHIP- Right on schedule.

That is the assessment of construction work on the soon-to-be-completed Duke Energy facility in Hamilton Township. Plant Manager Ken Gestel said Wednesday that the construction of the merchant power plant is on schedule, and a test performed over the weekend on equipment was successful.

"We started to generate test power a couple of days ago," Gestel said. "If someone had driven by right before then, they might have seen billows of steam. This is part of the commissioning process that will go on for another month, to make sure everything is working correctly."

Gestel said the test power generation was conducted on Saturday and Sunday and is over now.

The first of two power blocks is scheduled to start operation in mid-June and the second power block is scheduled to come on-line in mid- to late-August. Each will generate 620 megawatts of electricity.

Gestel said the 29 people who will operate the facility once it goes on-line have been hired. He estimated that 60-70 percent of them have been hired from within a 100-mile radius of Lawrence County. He said he did not have specific figures on how many of those 29 are actual Lawrence County residents. Gestel said all of the jobs are high-tech and require specific training.

Project Director Bill Lindsay said, right now, between 900 and 1,000 craft and support workers are employed at the site, working in two shifts.

Ground was broken in November 2001 on the $600 million power plant that is being built on land between U.S. 52 and the Ohio River in Hamilton Township.