When Can a Power Company Take Your Land for Data Center Infrastructure?

Imagine the internet as a giant library that needs big computers to work. Those big computers live in "data centers." Right now, the U.S. is building a LOT of them—and that’s causing some tricky situations with people’s land.

The Big Build-Up of Data Centers

The artificial intelligence (AI) boom in the United States is being matched by a data center building boom. Think of a data center as a warehouse filled with computer servers that process words, images, and lines of code for large language models such as ChatGPT.

Here’s what’s happening:

• There are more than 3,000 data centers in the U.S. already.
• Another 1,500 are being built or planned, according to a Pew Research Center analysis.
• President Donald Trump has promoted AI advancement, calling it crucial to economic and national security.
• But polling shows 7 in 10 Americans oppose the construction of AI data centers in their communities.
  • Why? They worry about:
  • Higher utility bills
  • Pollution
  • Noise
  • Loss of green space
  • These centers also use high amounts of water and electricity.

There is also growing opposition to the infrastructure around them, especially the transmission lines (the wires that carry electricity) needed to power them. These lines often must cross land belonging to private citizens.

Important Point: Where private citizens refuse to sell their land, companies are turning to eminent domain—the government’s inherent power to seize private property without a landowner’s consent. But a big question is: does a line built to serve a private data center qualify?

The author of this explainer is a legal scholar who studies eminent domain issues. They say today’s fights over taking property for AI infrastructure are the latest version of a long debate: how far can the government go to take private property for "public use"?

Why Is Expansion Needed?

Data centers have massive power needs. They can stress electrical grids (the network that delivers electricity) and threaten their reliability.

• In 2024, data centers accounted for more than 4% of the nation’s total electricity use.
• Demand will grow as more are built.
• To meet this demand, power companies must build more transmission lines—and acquire land to put them on.

Across the U.S.—in states such as Georgia and Pennsylvania—power companies have looked to eminent domain to facilitate these goals.

What Is Eminent Domain?

Let’s break it down like you’re five:

1. Power companies can ask landowners to sell them permission (called an "easement") to put transmission lines on their land.
2. If landowners say no, the government might force a sale.

The rules come from the U.S. Constitution:

• The government may take private land without consent if:
  • The seizure is for "public use"
  • The landowner is given "just compensation" (fair payment)
• This is in the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment.

Other things to know:

• The federal government can do this, but most eminent domain actions (also called condemnations) are done by state and local governments.
• Governments can also delegate (hand off) this power to private entities or "common carriers," such as power and water companies.
• Every state has its own rules for whether and how these utilities can use eminent domain.
  • Example: In Texas, the state Supreme Court says a project must "serve the public" and "cannot be built only for the builder’s exclusive use" to qualify as a common carrier.

What Is the "Public Use" Standard?

Even though property may only be taken for "public use," the U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted that rule loosely.

• In the 2005 case Kelo v. City of New London, the court said economic development counts as public use.
  • This let New London, Connecticut, seize homes for private development around a Pfizer facility.
  • That redevelopment never happened, and Pfizer eventually left New London.
• After this decision and public backlash, 45 states enacted eminent domain reform laws.

Some state supreme courts are stricter:

• Michigan, Ohio, and Oklahoma prohibit seizing private property to give it to another private party purely for economic development.

Important Point: Private landowners may have more success challenging land seizures under their state constitutions than in federal court. But courts typically still permit eminent domain by utilities like power companies.

What Does This Mean for Data Center Expansion?

When people sue to stop land seizures for transmission lines saying it’s not "public use," the results are mixed.

Examples:

• The supreme courts of South Dakota and Vermont approved seizures by power companies. They said providing at least some energy and better grid reliability to in-state customers was a valid public use.
• But if lines don’t benefit anyone in the state, it’s different.
  • In 1984, the Mississippi Supreme Court rejected a power company’s seizure because the line would run from Mississippi into Louisiana without helping any Mississippi customers.

These decisions suggest:

• As data centers increase energy demand, seizing land to improve power grid reliability will likely count as public use—especially if it helps in-state customers.
• But arguments about whether lines actually serve in-state customers may give landowners a chance to fight back.

Summary

The U.S. is in a data center building frenzy, with 3,000+ built and 1,500 more coming. Most Americans don’t want them nearby due to costs and pollution. To power them, companies need transmission lines and sometimes use eminent domain (government land seizure with payment) when people refuse to sell. The Constitution allows this for "public use," and courts have loosely defined that—but states vary. Some court cases show that if a power line clearly helps local people, it’s allowed; if it only helps another state or a private center, it may not be. Landowners can sometimes challenge these takeovers, especially using state laws.

FAQ

1. What is a data center in simple terms?
A data center is a building full of powerful computers (servers) that handle AI tasks like ChatGPT by processing words, images, and code. They use lots of electricity and water.

2. Can the government just take my land for a data center?
Not directly for the center itself easily—but they can take land for transmission lines (power wires) under eminent domain if it’s for "public use" and they pay you fairly. States have different rules.

3. What does "just compensation" mean?
It means the government must give the landowner a fair price for the property or easement they take.

4. Why do people oppose data centers?
They worry about higher bills, pollution, noise, lost green space, and heavy water/electricity use.

5. Can a private company take my land?
Usually only if the government gives them the power (like to a power company as a "common carrier"), and even then, it must follow public-use rules and pay you.