New nuclear reactors might be back on the table.

As Maryland lawmakers push for additional in-state power sources, Constellation Energy — the state’s largest energy generator — is providing options. Among them: generating natural gas, creating battery storage and doubling the power at the Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant.

State leaders passed laws this spring seeking to attract new power sources, and the Maryland Public Service Commission solicited plans last month for expedited consideration. Constellation submitted gas and battery proposals last week and, in a Tuesday news release, pitched new nuclear capacity as another “menu” item as the state’s appetite for energy increases.

Maryland’s only two nuclear reactors, in Calvert County, came online in the mid-1970s, shortly before the then-trendy energy lost favor following the Three Mile Island accident in Pennsylvania.

Since then, though, the carbon-free power source has had a reputation cleansing, and many, including in Maryland, are pushing for more.

Constellation is the nation’s largest producer of nuclear energy. The company, which reported $24 billion in revenue last year, is headquartered at Harbor Point and is Baltimore’s only Fortune 500 company.

Maryland imports a chunk of its energy. And though rising energy prices are caused in part by the increased cost of distribution — rather than the energy itself — officials have emphasized the importance of generating power within state lines.

Observers have long discussed the possibility of more nuclear generation at Calvert Cliffs, but Constellation’s interest in two new reactors marks the most concrete move in that direction in years. The company is “excited” to work with the state on the potential of “new nuclear power,” president and CEO Joe Dominguez said in a Tuesday statement.

The company is already planning to increase Calvert Cliffs’ capacity through upgrades, and it aims to extend its federal licenses past the mid-2030s, when they’re set to expire.

But the company said it also will “explore building 2,000 megawatts of new, next-generation nuclear at Calvert Cliffs.” The two current reactors, which make up about 40% of the state’s energy generation, produce just under 2,000 megawatts.

Previous efforts to build a third reactor at Calvert Cliffs, though, have fizzled, and any new nuclear would be a long way off. Constructing a new, large-scale reactor would take “maybe 10 years from start to finish” said Mason Emnett, Constellation’s senior vice president of public policy.

One reactor can costs upwards of $10 billion.

In other cases, gigantic customers, such as Microsoft, Amazon and Google, have paved the way for new nuclear by reaching power purchase agreements with plant operators.

Constellation has also proposed quicker, cheaper solutions, including 700 megawatts of natural gas-powered generation and 800 megawatts of battery storage capacity. Those projects would be roughly two to three years away, Emnett said in an interview Tuesday.

Exelon, the Chicago-based company that owns three utilities in Maryland, including Baltimore Gas & Electric, is also seeking to build a power plant in Maryland, according to Maryland Matters, in what would be a pivot from decades of deregulation policy.

Doing so, the company said, is guaranteed to increase the electricity supply, which would rein in costs.

But Dominguez sees it differently. He highlighted Tuesday how Constellation differs from Exelon, which Constellation spun off of in 2022.

“We are not now and never will be a monopoly that seeks guaranteed profits. We are a company that competes for its opportunities just like all our hardworking customers do — every single day,” he said in a statement.

Emnett stressed that Constellation is equipped to build power generation, since the company already has experience, sites and equipment.

“This is the business that we do,” he said. “And we do it on a competitive basis, without asking any captive monopoly customers to bear the risk of bad decisions.”

The retirement of several coal-fired power plants since 2012, combined with the incoming wave of massive data centers and increasing electrification, is driving up energy bills and put lawmakers on high alert this year.

Lawmakers passed the Next Generation Energy Act of 2025, aimed at lowering energy prices for the state’s ratepayers and creating more in-state power generation. The bill was passed in April and signed by Gov. Wes Moore in May.

Part of the legislation tasked the Public Service Commission, the independent state agency that regulates electric and gas utilities, with oversight of the process to solicit and approve applications for dispatchable generation (electricity sources that can be turned on and off) and large-capacity energy resources, and move them through an expedited process.

The PSC is also required to procure up to 1,600 megawatts of battery energy storage by 2027.

The state is looking for power generation that emits fewer greenhouse gases than coal- or oil-based generators and has capacity, also known as output, that’s at least 20 megawatts, which can include battery energy storage systems. It also has to be available during peak times such summer heat waves when air conditioners are cranked.

The legislation creates “a pathway to encourage new generation development and improve resource adequacy in Maryland without the state or ratepayers making a financial commitment,” Frederick Hoover, chair of the PSC, said in a statement in September.

The application window opened Oct. 1 and closed at the end of the month. Proposals, like those from Constellation, will head to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to be reviewed and recommended to the PSC.

The PSC commissioners must approve, conditionally approve or reject projects within 60 days.

Environmental and consumer advocates are pushing the PSC to consider applications that offer “new, low-cost clean energy and storage.”

“By rapidly supporting the deployment of energy storage, Maryland leaders can address rising electricity prices in one of the smartest ways possible,” Emily Scarr, senior adviser at the consumer advocacy group Maryland PIRG, said in a statement Monday.

Energy is expected to, once again, be a focal point of the General Assembly session beginning in January.

“This is really a conversation with legislative leaders, with the governor, and the agencies as to what choices they want to make,” Emnett said, “where they want to lean on development, and we were just being clear on what we view the options as.”