Garry Rayno reports in the Union Leader that the Public Utilities Commission’s Site Evaluation Committee voted to allow PSNH’s scrubber at Merrimack Station in Bow.

Merrimack Station

On a 5-4 vote, the Site Selection Committee denied two petitions, one from people living near the Merrimack Station plant,the other from a coalition of power producers, environmentalists and businesses opposed to the scrubber.

The $475 million scrubber is designed to meet a state mandate to reduce pollution caused by the coal-burning Merrimack Station facility. The system is expected to operate by 2013.

Opponents of coal-fired power plants pushed to require installation of the expensive scrubber in Bow. Once the scrubber was required, they changed tactics and argued that the $475 million project was too expensive for ratepayers to bear, arguing for closure of the Merrimack Station power plant.

Rayno writes that the panel’s decision is likely to be appealed to the New Hampshire Supreme Court.