Powering Progress | Ep. 14 – Environmental Litigation and the New Data Center Playbook

This series has explored the extraordinary investment flowing into data centers and the challenges surrounding power, real estate, financing, and technology, but as development accelerates, another challenge is emerging — environmental litigation. Data centers require large amounts of power, substantial infrastructure, and increasingly complex permitting approvals. At the same time, developers are facing growing scrutiny over air and water quality, energy consumption, land use, and the impact of these facilities on surrounding communities. Even when projects secure the necessary permits, legal challenges can create significant delays, increase costs, or potentially prevent development altogether. In this episode, Vinson & Elkins' Chief Innovation Officer Aubrey Bishai is joined by Environmental & Natural Resources Partner Patrick Traylor, whose practice focuses on environmental litigation and regulatory disputes. They explore how environmental challenges to data center projects are evolving, what we're beginning to see in the courts and administrative proceedings, and what developers, operators, and investors can do to anticipate and manage these risks.