Travis Annatoyn Unpacks Data Center Moratorium Litigation in Law360

Travis Annatoyn, counsel at Arnold & Porter, was quoted in the recent Law360 article, “Developers Allege Data Center Bans Defy Due Process,” which examined a wave of lawsuits filed by data center developers against city and county governments over recently enacted construction moratoriums.

Travis, who served as deputy solicitor for energy and mineral resources at the U.S. Department of the Interior during the Biden administration, pointed to competition over land and infrastructure resources as a driver of the pushback against data centers. “What we see nationwide is a lot of energy from citizen groups, from landowners, competitors over scarce resources, for example, water use or electricity, really emptying the playbook against data centers,” he said.

He added that while the technology is new, the underlying legal claims are not: “These are all complaints brought by developers who are frustrated that the municipality, the county, whatever the local land use authority is, has denied them what they believe to be their right to use land and for the reasons they purchased the property or have invested in the property. That is a very old, common type of dispute.”

Read the full article (subscription required).