Arnold & Porter offers a firmwide, cross-disciplinary approach to a data center project, from site assembly and acquisition through power procurement, construction financing, and operation. Our lawyers advise clients on hyperscale campuses across the full development lifecycle, from raw land to energized facility in the PJM, MISO, and ERCOT, and non-RTO markets, including gigawatt-scale developments representing billions of dollars of investment.
- Corporate and finance: We advise on project finance structuring, M&A, and joint ventures for data center assets. Our services also cover cross-border financing and currency considerations, refinancing and recapitalizations, exit strategies, tax planning and incentives across jurisdictions, and financing risk management.
- Energy and regulatory: We advise on the full suite of arrangements required to secure and deliver power to large-load projects, including interconnection, transmission, distribution and retail electric service agreements; utility construction and infrastructure arrangements and power-supply agreements. We also advise on rates, curtailment and other emerging issues across various applicable tariffs. We represent clients before FERC, state commissions and RTOs/ISOs and in disputes concerning transmission service, tariffs, project security and utility performance.
- Environmental: We advise on permitting and environmental review strategies under state and federal regulatory frameworks for data center projects, addressing impacts to air, water, waste, land use, and species. Our services also cover environmental risk assessment and community engagement.
- Intellectual property: We protect data center innovations through IP strategy and portfolio development, including patent support and strategic prosecution, and governance of copyright, software, and open-source solutions.
- Labor and employment: Our lawyers provide counsel on labor relations and construction labor strategy, including the negotiation of project labor agreements and engagement with the building trades on data center construction projects.
- Legislative and public policy: We advise on energy, power reliability, and infrastructure policy, advocate for tax credits and related incentives, navigate procurement and public procurement policy, address regulatory reforms impacting data center development, and manage international and cross-border considerations.
- Litigation: We represent data center developers and investors in disputes across the project lifecycle, from joint venture governance and capital commitment disputes to regulatory and delivery disputes with utilities. Our experience includes emergency injunctive relief to protect project timelines, transmission and tariff disputes before regulators and in court, breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty claims among joint venture partners and shareholders, patent infringement defense, bid protests, and internal investigations involving white collar and government contracts issues.
- National security: Members of our National Security practice guide critical infrastructure compliance planning under CISR/C2M2 and sector-specific requirements, and conduct risk assessments for data center operations. We also ensure alignment between national security and privacy policy, including data localization and cross-border data transfer restrictions.
- Real estate: We advise clients on site control, assemblage, and acquisition for hyperscale data center campuses, including diligence, title and survey review, access, phased structuring, and development rights. We also negotiate real estate joint ventures, development agreements, and construction management agreements, and advise on related transaction tax structuring. Our work includes utility-related real estate arrangements, including agreements relating to the location of substations within assemblages, transmission and distribution easements, utility conveyances, and related access rights. We also negotiate data center leases.
- Technology and data governance: Our services encompass licensing for hardware, software, and encryption; designing and implementing data governance programs; cross-border data protection; data ownership, portability, and retention; privacy, cybersecurity, and incident response; and complex vendor/partner contracts.
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Site-to-energization coverage: One team spanning real estate, energy, environmental, corporate and finance, labor, cybersecurity, national security, legislative, and technology handles the land, power, and capital structures of hyperscale data center projects on a single campus — assembling the land, negotiating transmission, distribution, and power supply agreements, and closing construction financing — so clients work with one team to coordinate instead of managing handoffs among several.
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Deal and dispute capability on the same project: We paper the joint ventures, utility agreements, and construction financings, and handle disputes arising from project relationships, utility agreements, and capital obligations, including transmission and tariff disputes against utilities and capital-commitment claims among joint venture partners.
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Regulatory reach beyond the transaction: Alongside proceedings before FERC, state commissions, and RTOs/ISOs, we advise on the national security and trade rules increasingly governing these projects, including AI chip export controls, outbound investment restrictions on data center and GPU financings, and critical infrastructure compliance.
Experience Highlights
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Institutional fund manager and leading data center developer in the suite of agreements required to obtain needed real estate, electric transmission and distribution infrastructure, electric power, and project financing for data center projects in the PJM Interconnection, Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Electric Reliability Council of Texas, and non-Regional Transmission Organization regions, including easement and parcel sale arrangements with utility companies.
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$20 billion bet-the-project litigation for institutional joint venture against monopoly utility regarding transmission security agreement for 1,800 MW data center campus project in multiple forums.
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Institutional fund manager and leading data center developer in the acquisition of over 520 acres in Central Pennsylvania for the planned development of hyperscale data center campuses with an eventual load in excess of 1,350 megawatts, anticipated to represent a $15 billion investment.
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Leading owner of colocation facilities in the acquisition of a historically significant carrier hotel and meet-me room facility in the Mountain West.
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International data center developer in raising investor capital, joint venture arrangements, REIT investment and other tax structuring, and holding vehicle restructurings, acquisitions, and dispositions.
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Global techology company in a government contracts bid protest related to the U.S. Department of Defense's $10 billion JEDI Cloud procurement.
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Strategic advisory firm in connection with national security regulations, specifically advising on AI chip export controls and restrictions on China's access to advanced computing capabilities.
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Financial institution in advising on export controls and outbound investment rules risks for multiple financing transactions for data center developers that contemplate offtake agreements to allow remote access to GPU processing powers.
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Data center owner and operator in advising on issues related to its contract negotiations with a short-form video platform.
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Multinational technology company in advising on matters related to data centers, including a data center for a cloud campus headquarters and data center leases.
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High-performance computing and AI infrastructure provider in conducting an investigation of a potential diversion of advanced GPUs through supply chain analysis, end-use compliance reviews, and on-site inspections of data centers across Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand.
Key Contacts
Related Services
- Data Centers
- Commercial Litigation
- Energy & Infrastructure
- Environmental Compliance & Counseling
- Labor & Employment
- Intellectual Property
- Mergers & Acquisitions
- National Security
- Privacy, Cybersecurity & Data Strategy
- Real Estate
- Semiconductors
- Tax
- Technology & Media
- Telecommunications, Internet & Media
Recognition
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Chambers USA
- Real Estate (Washington, D.C.) (2006-2026)
- Real Estate: Mainly Corporate & Finance (New York) (2016-2026)
- Commercial Litigation (California, Colorado, Houston, Illinois, New York, Washington, DC, Washington) (2026)
- Litigation: General Commercial: The Elite (Nationwide) (2026)
- Labor & Employment (Washington) (2026)
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The Legal 500 US
- Real Estate (2021-2026)
- Real Estate Finance (2023-2026)
- General Commercial Disputes (2015-2026)
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Best Law Firms by Best Lawyers
- Commercial Litigation (National) (2010-2026)
- Real Estate (National) (2011-2026)
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BTI Consulting Group
- Intimidating Opponent in Litigation (2023-2026)
