Can Georgia Power use eminent domain for private purposes?

Public utilities can acquire land if it drives private “economic development,” according to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Kelo vs. City of New London ruling from 2005.

Georgia Power is invoking eminent domain in Coweta County, where 20-30 properties are located along proposed project sites for the company. The seized land will be used, in part, to bolster transmission lines and substations. The infrastructure is needed to respond to projected increased demand as part of the company’s Integrated Resource Plan approved by Georgia regulators in 2025.

Part of that increased demand is due to a swelling number of data centers, which have used tax breaks for their development. Gov. Brian Kemp gave incoming data center companies financial relief in May 2024, vetoing a suspension of incentives for them. A study by the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government said such incentives had “mixed” success.