The transformer station is supposed to convert power to Microsoft's gigantic server halls in Stackbo, between Gävle and Sandviken.
Vattenfall has applied for an exemption from the County Administrative Board, as the site is on Gävle's drinking water supply.
Both Gästrike water and the municipality's environmental office have warned of the risks of any leakage, but Vattenfall has, according to a majority of Gävle municipality's politicians, presented adequate security measures why they wanted to see an exemption granted.
On Friday, however, the County Administrative Board in Gävleborg announced that it would reject the application for exemption. The decision reads, inter alia, the following:
“The County Administrative Board's assessment is that despite the protective measures taken, there are risks with the establishment of a transformer station in the water protection area. The County Administrative Board may also find that there are alternatives to a secure electricity supply of planned data centers that do not entail a prohibited activity / measure in accordance with the water protection regulations. The County Administrative Board therefore considers that you do not have such special reasons for allowing an exemption. "