Amazon wants to build data centers on 2,000 acres of land at Constellation Energy’s Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant in Southern Maryland.
Plans obtained by The Banner through an official public information request outline the e-commerce and web services company’s plans to build seven buildings across three campuses. These will be the first large data centers in Calvert County — and residents have questions.
Amazon representatives say the company will cover the cost of its electricity supply as well transmission line upgrade costs.
Big data centers have been at the center of discussion in recent years for their role in increasing electricity bills and expanding power grids. Maryland does not have many large data centers; most are proposals, which are under construction or are currently on hold subject to public review.
However, a state spokesperson for the state’s utility customers said last year that projected energy demand on the regional energy grid from these large plants could saddle Maryland ratepayers with an $800 million bill.
Currently, there is no agreement between Amazon and Constellation for the data center project, said Paul Adams, a spokesman for Constellation. The energy company is “in discussions with several leading data center partners.”
Adams added that the company would not comment “publicly on those confidential discussions or any requests for state approval.”
Becky Ford, a representative of the Amazon Web Services expansion team, said at a public meeting in Calvert County last week that the project is still in the evaluation stage without existing agreements or submitted site plans.
Amazon’s 500 megawatt data center campuses — enough to power more than 375,000 homes, according to energy analysts — would connect to PJM Interconnection’s power grid and enter into a power purchase agreement with Constellation Energy, Adams said.
Constellation is pursuing more deals with data center developers. Last year, the company announced a 20-year power purchase agreement with Microsoft that will include starting up a nuclear reactor at its Three Mile Island facility (called the Crane Clean Energy Center) in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The administrators are reviewing it.
Constellation CEO Joe Dominguez floated the idea of putting data centers at its Maryland nuclear facility. Dominguez planned to announce a “new deal for the data economy” this week in the company’s quarterly earnings call, but said he had to change course due to ongoing regulatory negotiations with the regional grid operator and recent moves by President Donald Trump. Last month, the White House announced that AI companies would commit to paying in power data centers.
“The constellation can form agreements now to boost America’s growth in AI with our solid and clean nuclear power,” Dominguez said Tuesday in an investor call.
In an event with state lawmakers last November, Dominguez said “Maryland is a very attractive location for many of our customers to look at, because it is close to the fiber network in Northern Virginia and the computing capabilities of the NSA complex.”
A closer look
According to the documents, the data center project would have three Constellation companies, each about a kilometer away from the nuclear plant, recently named Calvert Cliffs Energy Center.
The first location would include two 225,000-square-foot facilities; entrance gate; access control, support and infrastructure; and four storage tanks for industrial cooling.
A second campus, about half a mile south of the first, would be almost exactly the same.
The third would be on the southern edge of the property and consist of three 225,000-square-foot buildings with five industrial heating tanks.
It is not clear whether the data centers can use diesel generators, which are common in some large centers.
If the project were to go ahead, Amazon would be served by Southern Maryland Energy Cooperative as a bulk load customer and would enter into a long-term transmission security agreement with Baltimore Gas and Electric Co., said Mike Fradette, an energy specialist at Amazon Web Services, at a March 26 public meeting in Calvert County.
Such an agreement would require companies like Amazon to “make a firm financial commitment for the delivery service,” Nick Alexopulos, a BGE spokesman, said in an email. “That means some customers won’t be responsible for paying the cost of hooking up a heavy load customer and serving them.”
A switch station and a new connection to BGE’s transmission system are also needed to help boost data center services.
Tom Dennison, a spokesman for the Southern Maryland Energy Cooperative, said in an email to The Banner that “any data center that wants to build in Southern Maryland must directly pay the full cost of all electrical transmission or distribution systems necessary to connect the data center and provide electrical service.”
Amazon Web Services representatives told the public that the proposed project site was chosen in part because of its proximity to three power lines.
It’s “a great opportunity for a data center to come in and maintain very reliable power,” and, because Amazon would pay for the development costs, it could also help with network power, Fradette said.
Company representatives said the data center will use water from the nuclear plant for its cooling process.
More than 150 acres of trees would need to be cleared to accommodate the data center companies, according to an email from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources reviewed by The Banner.
The project will affect Parran’s Park and the Baltimore and Drum Point Railroad, two properties listed on the Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties, according to emails obtained and reviewed by The Banner.
“Information Center 1 extends right up to the boundary of the MIHP, blocks access to two tobacco barns, and will significantly change the landscape of Parran’s Park,” one email from a Maryland Historical Trust employee reads.
As for the Baltimore and Drum Point Railroad, “most of its northwestern portion will be terminated by the Data Center 1 campus.”
The Maryland Historical Trust recommended that the original campus be moved to the southeast to avoid direct impacts on both properties.
Different plan
Last year, Calvert County commissioners passed a zoning ordinance that allows for land near the nuclear plant and two other parcels. to be reserved for heavy industries, and finally to open the door to data centers.
It’s not clear when plans for a data center in Calvert Cliffs began, but a concept site called the “Calvert County Data Center Project” began in November 2024, according to documents obtained by The Banner.
A different proposal for a Calvert County data center campus was recently revealed. This is about 6 kilometers south of the planned Amazon campus.
Natelli Holdings, a family-owned real estate firm in Gaithersburg, presented a plan to county commissioners on March 24 to buy and renovate a former Dominion Energy site that the county owns. Four data center buildings, two stories high and 220,000 square feet each, would be built around 133 acres.
The developer expects the project to have an energy demand of 300 megawatts.
Some Calvert County residents have pushed back against data center development, citing concerns about environmental impacts and their quality of life.
Citizens have also criticized their elected officials for signing nondisclosure agreements with data center developers, seeing them as backroom deals where the public can’t talk until it’s too late.
Calvert County government did not respond to a request for comment.
#Amazon #large #data #center #facility #Calvert #Cliffs #nuclear #complex