NH Supreme Court rules against Big Yogurt

In a ruling sure to inspire cynics who thought our state was firmly in the grasp of Big Yogurt's control, the New Hampshire Supreme Court today denied the appeal of Stonyfield Yogurt and other PSNH critics who sought to block installation of a mercury scrubber at the Merrimack Station Power Plant. The six-page decision found that the plaintiffs didn't have standing to block the move, since it won't affect rates unless and until the Public Utilities Commission agrees to higher rates.

Such future harm is insufficient, as a matter of law, to confer standing upon the petitioners to appeal the PUC’s decision. Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal.

Complete Ruling

Charlie Arlinghaus has documented Stonyfield's efforts to stop PSNH from burning coal. Installation of the scrubber was mandated by the state, after the very same critics complained about mercury pollution from the coal burning power plant. Once the scrubber was mandated, they shifted their argument from the environmental to the financial, claiming that the pollution controls they wanted made the power plant too expensive to operate.

This is coming from a group of plaintiffs that don't want the United States to burn coal for electricity. I would have more sympathy for their point of view if they were honest about their goals, instead of pretending to stand up for us as ratepayers.