A new proposal by a business trade group is causing Ohio farmers to fear that the state and utility companies could take private property to build data centers. This idea would also allow entities to take the land before the owner gets paid.
In a document I obtained, the Ohio Business Roundtable, a powerful trade group that lobbies at the Statehouse, recommended that lawmakers change eminent domain law, and “should extend possession authority to energy infrastructure projects once public use and necessity have been established.”
“We are aware of efforts to further erode the limited protections that landowners have, allowing for quick take of property without first paying for the property and determining a landowner’s rights and compensation through a court of law,” the Ohio Farm Bureau’s Evan Callicoat said…