Utilities regulators in Maryland are prepared to expedite reviews of two natural gas-fired power plants proposed by Baltimore-based Constellation Energy. The state’s Public Service Commission on December 30 issued a 14-page order in which the group approved Constellation’s request to fast-track the facilities in the regulatory process. Legislators and other Maryland officials have said the state needs to produce more of its own power to reduce imports from other regions and help lower utility bills for the state’s electricity customers.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) has made energy a focus of his administration, and lawmakers last year passed legislation that supports increased power generation capacity in the state. The Next Generation Energy Act created a fast-track process for as many as 10 projects, though officials have said if there are few applications, the PSC should grant expedited consideration for any applicant.
Environmental advocates have opposed the legislation, saying support for fossil fuels is detrimental to the state’s climate goals. Under the law, which took effect June 1 of last year, the PSC has 295 days after an application is considered complete to make a final decision on permitting.
Constellation in November said the proposed power plants were meant to provide Maryland lawmakers a “menu of options” for new power generation. Joe Dominguez, the company’s CEO, at the time said, “While there is a good deal of consensus on the need for battery storage, the future of natural gas in our state is less clear. We believe that natural gas generation should be an option, but there are pros and cons to consider and, quite naturally, we do not want to build what our state does not want.”
Constellation in its November 2025 proposal said it could invest in up to 5,800 megawatts of power generation and battery storage projects in Maryland to meet rising demand for electricity and lower utility bills. Said Dominguez, “Constellation already has invested over $1 billion of its own money on Maryland wind, hydro and 24/7 clean nuclear energy resources to power Maryland families and businesses for generations to come.” Dominguez called the proposal “an ambitious plan to make billions of dollars of new investments in Maryland without seeking any electricity rate increases, including options ranging from new natural gas to battery storage and nuclear energy. Constellation hopes to be a thought partner as Governor Moore and other policymakers consider the state’s many choices.”
Plants Would Add More Than 700 MW of Capacity
The PSC said the proposed Constellation plants—one with as much as 564 MW of generation capacity, and the other with about 150 MW—would increase the state’s gas-fired generation by about 14%. Constellation submitted plans for the facilities to state regulators last fall, and also said construction of new natural gas pipelines to connect the facilities would cost about $800 million.
The PSC on Tuesday said it would not immediately support fast-tracked consideration of as much as 800 MW of battery energy storage in addition to the gas-fired plants. The agency said it could reconsider the request if Constellation submits revisions to its plans within the next two months.
Constellation earlier had said it wanted to build new generation facilities in Harford County, in the Perryman area near Aberdeen. The company already owns land there and operates the five-unit, 404-MW Perryman Generating Station in Aberdeen, which first came online in 1972. Constellation said four of the units at Perryman are oil-fueled combustion turbines; a fifth unit burns natural gas and began operating in 1995. Constellation said the facility is a peaker plant, used as needed during periods of peak energy demand.
Chicago, Illinois-headquartered Exelon, another energy company, also has lobbied Maryland lawmakers for a new gas-fired plant in the state. Exelon owns Baltimore Gas and Electric.
Constellation as part of its future plans also has discussed upgrades and an expansion of the company’s 1,800-MW Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant in Lusby. The company’s other power generation facilities in Maryland, in addition to Perryman and Calvert Cliffs, are the Conowingo Dam, the Philadelphia Road oil plant in Baltimore, and three wind farms in the western part of the state.
—Darrell Proctor is a senior editor for POWER.
