The AI boom has triggered a data center construction surge, with more than 3,000 facilities operating and 1,500 in development according to Pew Research Center. While the Trump administration champions AI as vital to national security, polling shows 70% of Americans oppose local data centers due to higher utility bills, pollution, noise, and lost green space. These facilities consumed over 4% of U.S. electricity in 2024, straining grids.

To meet demand, power companies are building transmission lines across private land. When landowners refuse easements, utilities invoke eminent domain—the government's power to seize property for "public use" with "just compensation" under the Fifth Amendment. The Kelo v. City of New London decision broadly interpreted public use to include economic development, prompting 45 states to enact reform laws.

Courts remain divided. South Dakota and Vermont upheld seizures for grid reliability benefiting in-state customers, while Mississippi rejected a line serving only out-of-state users. As data centers expand, the key legal question is whether transmission lines primarily serve private developers or provide genuine public benefit to state residents.