70% of Americans dont want data centers built nearby, but the government is  
  seizing private property to force construction to start  
    
  Date:  
  Mon, 20 Jul 2026 17:20:00 +0000  
    
  Description:  
  'Eminent domain' is being used to force landowners to sell their personal  
  property to help build infrastructure for data centers.  
    
  FULL STORY  
  Americans are not happy with the mass buildout of new AI data centers: Its  
  no  
  secret that there is a big divide between AI companies looking to expand  
  capacity and the general public who dont 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  
  governments ability to seize the private property of landholders without  
  the  
  need for the owners consent.  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  
  Metas 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  
    
  Link to news story:  
    
  https://www.techradar.com/pro/70-percent-of-americans-dont-want-data-  
  centers-b  
  uilt-nearby-but-the-government-is-seizing-private-property-to-force-  
  constructi  
  on-to-start  
    
  $$  
  --- MultiMail/DOS  
   * Origin: capitolcityonline.net * KY, USA (1:2320/107)