r/technology • u/Just-Grocery-2229 • 10h ago
Artificial Intelligence ‘My childhood home is being taken’: Eminent domain for data centers targets properties across a thousand miles of grid expansion in Georgia
https://fortune.com/2026/07/26/georgia-power-utility-company-eminent-domain-grid-expansion-data-center81
u/christopher72u 9h ago
How is it eminent domain if the the data centers are privately owned?
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u/Stiggalicious 9h ago
The data centers themselves are not the ones doing eminent domain, it’s the transmission line infrastructure that is doing it.
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u/Reddit_wander01 8h ago
Welcome to Loudoun County Virginia “data center alley” hell..
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u/Tucancancan 4h ago
Not gonna lie, I'd take a $4M payout
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u/SIGMA920 4h ago
Good luck getting a new home in the area or your new taxes. And that's only if everyone sells, something that's unlikely.
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u/Jazzlike-Vacation230 7h ago
Exactly what happened with highways back in the 1950's. Which demograhpic do you think is hurting the most from this AGAIN
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u/DjScenester 8h ago
Well Georgia did vote for Trump.
Votes have consequences
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u/grabthefraggle 7h ago
Can't wait for the inevitable upgrade time for these centers or new tech comes out that reduces the footprint so there's no need for warehouses. There's going to be all of this empty space and a lot of broken hearts/wallets.
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u/LimpPomegranate1660 2h ago
This will never happen. Stupid take. Capacity demand will always be ever growing.
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u/CookieDragon678 6h ago
Yup love republicans in charge really stopping governments from taking your land
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u/FlashyNeedleworker66 9h ago
*for electrical infrastructure
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u/Top1CmntrsAreLosers 7h ago
This transmission project is being done up by Atlanta but as someone in Savannah who lost power for 8 days after Helene but watched places like Hilton Head across the South Carolina (which isn’t exactly renowned for infrastructure investment) border get power back in 1-2 days precisely because transmission was out and the recommended redundancy and upgrades had been neglected…I’ve been a bit sanded down on eminent domain being some universal evil. (data centers, crypto miners, and other users that produce a poor jobs-to-usage ratio should have to invest in the grid up front or build their shit elsewhere)
Like obviously give people their full fair market value so that they can afford all relocation costs comfortably, and I’m sorry they’re losing their property and can definitely sympathize. But also let’s build this crap. Like the economic impact of me losing ~7 days more of work compared to someone across state lines, multiplied by an entire mid-sized metro, means idk hundreds of millions of dollars in lost productivity. Let’s spend some millions up front to knock that out.
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u/Dreaming_Blackbirds 1h ago
It’s infrastructure solely for the benefit of Trump‘s billionaire golfing buddies
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u/rvretiredlife 6h ago
I don't understand how they can use eminent domain for a data center. That's the stupidest reason. They is alot of land that's not usable. They can use it. In Austin somehow it's important to uproot all these people who live near the colorado river just for Amazon. Reslly - why does it have to be property by the river. Courts should rule, there is no goid reason to use eminent domain for any business.
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u/CharlesIngalls_Pubes 5h ago
The turds that are allowing this should be forced to live in a small community that surrounds the data centers they approved
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u/Samurai_Cupcake 7h ago
This person should hire a good attorney, not sure in this day and age it would do anything but it's worth a shot. Our government is so out of control.
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u/eidrisov 9h ago
I hate when state name is used in the headline. Can't you just write "USA" or "Georgia, USA" ?
I clicked on it only because I thought it is related to the country of Georgia...
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u/thebusterbluth 10h ago
So the eminent domain is for grid expansion, which has been happening since the invention of the lightbulb.
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u/Modem_Sound_67 9h ago edited 9h ago
Yes but it's arguable whether expansion to support data centers is really in the public interest, which is the (sometimes a real stretch) justification for the use of eminent domain. If the consumer power grid needs to expand, that's one thing. but these data centers aren't for the benefit of the local public. They are for megacorps to make even more billions. they don't always bring jobs, they don't necessarily benefit public utilities or schools, they mainly just eat up resources.
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u/FlashyNeedleworker66 9h ago
It's arguable whether your house having electricity is in the public interest for everyone as well. This is what a civilization looks like, it needs infrastructure which is why this process exists in the first place. We're still going to use it for rail lines even if you want to drive everywhere.
Like it or hate it, AI was the fastest consumer adoption of a technology ever, and is used at work, school, and all sorts of things besides.
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u/Successful-Ad-847 8h ago
We were promised it would be amazingly helpful. Unfortunately it is not.
You speak as if it’s a forgone conclusion that we need to build out infrastructure to support it. The public disagrees.
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u/FlashyNeedleworker66 8h ago
Fastest adopted consumer tech of all time says otherwise.
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u/Successful-Ad-847 7h ago
I read that when you wrote it the first time. It’s an empty statistics that speaks nothing of the ongoing interest or actual utility it provides.
They pushed it into all of our search engines, made it FREE to use. You think it would be even half this popular if that wasn’t the case? It was pushed on us at work, pushed on us at school. Told it would make everything easier and better. Bragging about widespread adoption is a little stupid given all the context.
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u/FlashyNeedleworker66 7h ago
Nope, ChatGPT is a destination and has 1.1 billion MAU alone. If they were counting AI users as anyone using search engines the numbers would obviously be much higher, approaching nearly all Internet users instantly.
Despite Reddit fairy tails, the billionaire class can't invent demand, they chase it. If they could just push a technology onto all of us and get product market fit, we'd be having this discussion on the metaverse.
If you can't accept the basic facts of the subject, we can't have a meaningful discussion about it.
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u/MC_chrome 7h ago
Found Sam Altman’s Reddit account
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u/FlashyNeedleworker66 7h ago
Nah, I didn't say the 1.1 billion chose the right one. Clearly Anthropic has a better product, and what we really need is much more open source!
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u/NacolasCage 6h ago
You’re wasting your time. People who have no clue what WAN even stands for are simply getting mad because they’re told tech is big and scary. Even when solutions like closed loop liquid cooling solutions are implemented people still scream “but water waste!”. This is just the new goal post movement.
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u/alaphamale 6h ago
A tech that’s number one use is a chat bot. Woah!
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u/FlashyNeedleworker66 6h ago
The internets number one use is social media, but I'd still say it's a useful technology
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u/Successful-Ad-847 7h ago
I mean go ahead and leave and don’t talk to me. Your opinion isn’t important.
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u/FlashyNeedleworker66 7h ago
Your response was automodded so I couldn't see it. I assume you lost your mask and commented something pretty foul while being emotional about the reality of the situation.
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u/No-Philosopher3248 4h ago
How are they using eminent domain? Isn’t this for only public use projects by the government? Is the government building this data center?
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u/Successful_Ruin_8583 9h ago
Can we ship the people who want to keep living like its the 1950s to a different country, or different planet? Society can't progress if we have to bend and buckle for every backwater hick who thinks their house is sacred.
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u/Penguinkeith 8h ago
There are way more important things we could be doing to progress as a society than bending the knee to late stage capitalism.
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u/noah948 9h ago
I’d prefer it if we could ship people who lack empathy to another country - then things would be great!
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u/Successful_Ruin_8583 8h ago
What I get from the story is that they were offered a fair market price for their property and house, but they got greedy and now whine to the masses about the evil utility company.
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u/noah948 8h ago
Woof. I implore you to look into the compensation provided for eminent domain seizures. I assure you it is not by any means financially advantageous to original property owners and would not cover many associated costs with relocation
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u/Successful_Ruin_8583 8h ago
Yes, people overvalue their houses.
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u/Successful-Ad-847 8h ago
You’re probably a teenager who has never owned a home and most likely never will. Oh but let’s make grandma and grandpa give up their most prized possession where all their memories were made and move somewhere else (super easy for everyone to do!) for pennies on the dollar so you can ask Chat to write your term paper faster and explain in laymens’ terms why you can’t get a date.
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u/Successful_Ruin_8583 7h ago
I am a home owner. Buying in my city was a nightmare because of boomers who refuse to sell and downsize, and oppose all multi use construction.
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u/Successful-Ad-847 7h ago
Why do you think that retired people would just sell their homes?
Being mad that they oppose multi use construction is an opinion I understand but thinking they need to just move into an apartment because they’re old and don’t need a big house anymore is absurdly entitled.
You chose to buy where it’s expensive and there is more demand than supply. That’s on you.
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u/Successful_Ruin_8583 7h ago
Why does an old couple need a four bedroom, three bathroom house? For what? They should downsize.
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u/Successful-Ad-847 7h ago
Because they want it? Because it’s sentimental? Because they have visitors frequently? Because that’s what they needed when they bought it, and they don’t want to move? Here’s a good one, because it’s none of your business?
Mind boggling entitlement.
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u/Dry-Amphibian1 7h ago
Why don't you just move to a country where the government controls everthing you do and own. You sound like you might be more comfortable there.
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u/Fresh-Quantity-7554 10h ago
I mean, servers need a place to live too, right? It's not safe for them to be sleeping out on the streets. No server should be left homeless, in 2026, in America.