Ohio farmers are warning that a behind-the-scenes Statehouse proposal could let state agencies and utility companies roll onto private land for energy infrastructure before landowners see full payment. The trade-group concept, described internally as a "deposit and build" model, is being sold as a way to speed the power hookups that data centers need. Landowners and farm organizations counter that it would chip away at long-standing safeguards and could leave some families waiting months or years for their money.
In a document obtained by News 5 Cleveland, the Ohio Business Roundtable urged lawmakers to "extend possession authority to energy infrastructure projects once public use and necessity have been established." The group argues the change would head off multi-year delays for projects that need immediate connections to power lines and pipelines.
"We are aware of efforts to further erode the limited protections that landowners have," Ohio Farm Bureau policy director Evan Callicoat told News 5 Cleveland. He said Farm Bureau members are not opposed to development, but are focused on defending property rights. Nick Rhodes of the Ohio Business Roundtable told the station the idea is meant to speed up infrastructure projects, not hand data center companies the power of eminent domain.
How Ohio law works now
Under current Ohio law, an acquiring agency generally has to pay the agreed purchase price or deposit the appraised value with the court before an owner can be forced to give up possession of land. That bar on early possession, and the deposit requirement that goes with it, are baked into the state’s condemnation statutes. According to Ohio Revised Code §163.59, an owner cannot be required to surrender possession until the agency pays or deposits the required funds.
What "deposit and build" would change
Under a deposit-and-build model, an agency or utility could take possession after a court or agency decides that public use and necessity have been met, then move ahead with construction while any fights over compensation play out. Backers say that timeline would keep major projects from stalling and would avoid expensive holdups. Opponents say it functions as a "quick take" that tilts power away from property owners and increases the risk that payment will be delayed.
Why farmers are worried
Farmers and rural landowners say the change would be broad enough to let data center buildouts push aside productive farmland, with compensation potentially tied up in appeals for months or years. Ohio’s eminent domain framework explicitly lists utility facilities as presumed public uses, a category that can cover the power, transmission, and pipeline infrastructure that data centers rely on, as shown in Ohio Revised Code Chapter 163.
Statehouse reaction and the energy angle
At the Statehouse, Republican Sen. Brian Chavez has called the idea "a very hot topic" and said data centers are increasingly viewed as part of Ohio’s infrastructure. Recent high-profile proposals, including a multibillion-dollar Vantage campus near Millersport that has already put farmland at the center of the debate, according to a multibillion-dollar Vantage campus near Millersport, are driving those conversations. The Ohio Power Siting Board, which oversees siting for major utility facilities such as high-voltage transmission lines and large generation projects, plays a central role in approvals that would make any legal change especially consequential, according to the Ohio Attorney General's office.
Legal implications
Legal observers say the proposal would narrow the gap between private development and projects considered "public use," giving utilities or developers faster access to land while disputes over compensation continue in court. Critics say the core question is whether the race to build infrastructure for tech campuses should override the state’s long-standing protections against early seizure and delayed payment.
For now, lawmakers have not adopted the deposit-and-build idea, and farm groups plan to keep pressing their case at the Statehouse as hearings unfold. Whatever the Legislature decides will determine whether Ohio tries to balance rapid data center expansion with entrenched property rights or chooses faster infrastructure timelines for hyperscale projects instead.
