How To Legally Fight an AI Data Center in Your Community

In recent years, massive data centers have been popping up across the country. They power artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and the apps that we use every day. These facilities require considerable amounts of land, electricity, and water to operate.

While Big Tech thrives on these facilities, residents nearby find them anything but harmless. You may find it overwhelming to think about fighting a billion-dollar enterprise to prevent the construction of a data center, but you are not powerless. There are legal tools and practical steps you can take to push back against the construction of an AI data center in your community.

To get legal assistance, consult an experienced land-use and zoning lawyer.

Why Communities Push Back Against AI Data Centers

Community members fight the construction of AI data centers for a variety of reasons:

Noise Pollution

Operating servers, fans, backup generators, and cooling equipment generate noise around the clock. It creates a low, persistent hum that negatively affects neighbors.

External noise levels can be comparable to those on a busy street and can exceed levels that are harmful to hearing. This creates a risk for surrounding communities and wildlife.

Water Use

AI data centers require millions of gallons of water each day for cooling. That’s the water usage of a small city. The amount of water used is expected to double in the next couple of years, and in the next five years, hyperscale data centers are set to use even more. This usage competes with homes and farms for a limited resource.

Energy Demand

AI data centers can occupy more than 1,000 acres, with power needs that are equivalent to the electricity use of 80,000 homes. With ChatGPT processing 2 billion queries daily, this requires a tremendous amount of computing power. The demand for energy can strain the local grid, push utilities to build new infrastructure, and raise the rates for ordinary ratepayers.

Air Quality

Data centers require on-site emergency generation in case there’s a power grid failure. While renewable energy, such as wind or solar power, could provide that emergency power, most proposals call for diesel generators.

Diesel generators emit significant amounts of particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and carbon monoxide. All of this contributes to air pollution.

Traffic and Construction

Building data centers comes with heavy trucks and machinery, construction crews, and ongoing service vehicles on roads that were never designed for such loads.

Tax Incentives

Local governments often hand out generous tax breaks to attract data centers. However, residents frequently question whether the promised jobs, revenue, and economic development materialize and whether they are harmed by the loss of tax revenue.

Given these land use changes and impacts, many residents feel their neighborhoods are becoming industrial zones without their consent.

Legal Theories and Challenges That Have Been Raised Against AI Data Centers

Contesting data centers is not new. There are specific strategies and legal theories that communities have used to challenge the construction of AI data centers.

Land Use and Zoning Regulations

Zoning is often the first and best line of defense. A data center is an industrial use, so if the proposed site is not zoned for it, the developer needs to apply for rezoning, a special use permit, or a variance, all of which require public approval. Local zoning boards must follow their own rules.

Citizens can attend hearings and express their concerns. The developer must be able to justify its decisions and make the case under the rules. Land use and zoning regulations can be the avenue for a legal challenge.

Energy Consumption and Utilities Law

Data centers require large quantities of electricity. Increased energy consumption often requires the construction of new substations and transmission lines, as well as rate changes. These rate changes must be approved by a state public utility commission.

These commissions hold public hearings where the public can intervene. The core argument that opponents have used against the developers is that ordinary ratepayers should not have to foot the bill to serve a single customer.

Environmental and Natural Resource Challenges

AI data centers consume an incredible amount of resources. This makes it necessary to obtain numerous permits. Large projects can require:

• Environmental review
• Permits for water withdrawal
• Air permits for diesel backup generators
• Stormwater management plans

Each permit and plan that needs to be approved or issued presents an opportunity to challenge it.

Property Right and Nuisance

If an AI data center is built, neighbors retain the right to use and enjoy their property. Nuisance law provides legal grounds for challenges when constant noise, vibration, light, or fumes interfere with the enjoyment and use of property. The courts can hear a private nuisance claim.

Nuisance cases typically require proof of damages. Nuisance claims are often brought after a facility is operating, but courts can, in appropriate cases, grant injunctive relief to prevent a threatened nuisance when future harm is sufficiently likely. But the threat of harm can push developers to reconsider their plans or find ways to mitigate the nuisance up front.

How To Contest a Proposed AI Data Center: 7 Steps

With developers sometimes using shell companies and nondisclosure agreements, it can be difficult to discover plans for a data center until the deals are nearly finalized. However, if you do learn about an AI data center project that you want to contest, there are steps you can follow to launch a challenge.

1. Organize Your Neighbors

If you can build your numbers, that helps. While a single voice is easy to dismiss, a coordinated group is not. Build a neighborhood coalition, start an email list, or create a way to share updates with a larger group you can mobilize.

2. Gather Records

Information is power when you are challenging a data center. File public records requests with the right government entity to obtain records such as the application, site plans, traffic studies, water and power agreements, and any tax incentives.

3. Learn the Approval Timeline

Find out when any hearings are scheduled for the governmental body that makes decisions relating to data centers. This may be a planning commission, zoning board, or city council.

4. Speak at Planning and Council Meetings

Officials respond to legitimate legal and factual concerns. When you speak at a meeting, do not appeal simply to emotion about why neighbors do not want the AI data center. Keep comments focused, factual, and directly tied to the standards the board must apply. It also makes a powerful case if neighbors show up in large numbers.

5. Build Your Evidence

A strong factual record goes a long way in making the case, and it also helps if you lose at the initial stage and need to file an appeal. Creating a strong record involves collecting photos, noise measurements from comparable facilities, traffic data, water usage figures, and expert opinions.

6. File Administrative Appeals

The appeal stage is where you can argue that the board ignored its own rules, lacked evidence, or failed to follow proper procedure. You have the right to appeal a decision to a higher body or to a court if a project is approved. Administrative appeals often must be filed quickly, so you must be able to act quickly.

7. Consider Filing a Lawsuit

Litigation may be your only option in some circumstances. For example, when appeals fail or when ongoing harm occurs, litigation may be necessary. Lawsuits can be used to challenge the approval itself, enforce environmental laws, or pursue nuisance claims. The strong prospect of a lawsuit can bring a developer to negotiate and meet some of the community’s demands.

When To Get Legal Help

You can make a difference and accomplish a lot on your own. But when certain milestones are reached in an AI data center project, such as a project moving toward final approval, and you need to preserve your appeal rights, you may be able to benefit from an attorney. An attorney can also help if the legal and technical issues become too complex for you and your group to effectively handle.

In these cases, where there is community support for the opposition, you can pool resources to share legal costs. Some environmental and climate justice organizations may also offer free help or guidance.

An experienced lawyer can guide you through the entire process. To do so, visit the Super Lawyers directory to find a lawyer who practices land-use and zoning law.