US government uses eminent domain to force land sales for AI data centers

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The US government is using 'eminent domain' to force landowners to sell property to make way for new data center infrastructure

Power companies are turning to the government as a last resort for acquiring land needed for power transmission projects

Americans are not happy with the mass buildout of new AI data centers

It’s no secret that there is a big divide between AI companies looking to expand capacity and the general public who don’t want a data center constructed in their back yard, particularly in the US.

Recent polling has put that number up to as many as 7 in 10 Americans who are opposed to data center construction , with environmental concerns and reductions in quality of life cited as the biggest reasons.

But AI companies and energy firms alike are reportedly turning to ‘eminent domain’ - the government’s ability to seize the private property of landholders without the need for the owner’s consent.

Government seizing private property

Eminent domain has typically been reserved for critical infrastructure projects including power and transport, alongside government projects and public utilities.

Eminent domain was also famously used to seize land for the construction of the Minuteman nuclear missile deterrent across the United States during the Cold War.

Drawing on a similar patriotic tone expressed during the construction of silos in the 1960s, President Donald Trump has said that the development of AI technologies is crucial to the national security and economic security of the US, and therefore capacity must be expanded.

As data centers require enormous amounts of electricity in order to function, they require dedicated power lines and infrastructure connections. In order to construct this infrastructure, power companies approach local landowners and offer to buy the land upon which the power lines will be built. However, if the landowners say no, the power companies can call on the government to use its power of eminent domain.

The Fifth Amendment of the US constitution requires the government to provide the landowner with “just compensation,” generally based on fair market value for similar property in the local area.

Data centers accounted for roughly 10-20% of US electricity consumption in 2024, with that number having risen significantly since then. Some data centers under construction will use more power than some US cities, such as Meta’s Hyperion campus in Louisiana which is expected to consume three times the power consumed by the city of New Orleans.

Some states have been more prolific in their use of eminent domain, with residents in Georgia being forced to sell property to the Georgia Power transmission project - a capacity expansion that will primarily benefit data centers. Other landowners in Maryland have begun erecting signs on their property that state, “No eminent domain for corporate gain.”

The opposition to data centers is fast becoming a people versus the government issue, with many complaining that AI companies are becoming extremely wealthy without providing any benefit for the average working class American - something that Senator Bernie Sanders hopes to remediate with an AI sovereign wealth fund that would force AI companies to offer up 50% of their stock to be used to fund projects that benefit Americans.

Via Fortune