It’s 2030. You’re stuck on the Baltimore Beltway, and the battery icon on your Tesla dashboard is glowing red.

Rolling blackouts mean you won’t be able to charge overnight. The heat is on low power, too, with the first big snow since January 2026 in the forecast.

What do Alexa and Grok suggest you do?

Imaginary time travel is one way to understand the complicated power problem facing Maryland.

Demand for more electricity shows no sign of slowing, driven by the growth of data centers powering AI. The state faces decisions right now that could lock in how the future unfolds.

Last week, I led a panel discussion for The Banner on this topic in Annapolis with executives and legislative leaders.

As Gov. Wes Moore rolls out a plan to get out of this mess, here’s how that discussion helped me understand what’s ahead.

Now

The governor’s plan is coming.

It could deal with the desire of Exelon, a power distribution company, to reenter power generation in Maryland.

The state split the two sides of it decades ago, hoping to foster competition and lower prices. BGE, the power company to most people, is part of Exelon.

“It’s not a case that we want to be back in the generation business,” said Valencia McClure, an Exelon senior VP. “It’s a case that there’s a need for more supply in the state.”

It’s also true that Exelon is attracted to the profits in generating electricity.

As coal plants shut down, or “retired” because of age and pollution, there hasn’t been a corresponding rise in other in-state power sources.

Increased demand generated by data centers, electric cars and other facts of modern life pushed the price of power up from historic lows.

The Public Service Commission, Maryland’s utility regulator, could let Exelon back into the power plant business under existing state law. But an endorsement by the governor would help.

Constellation, the onetime Exelon subsidiary spun off to generate power, opposes the change. It’s developing gas-powered plants in Harford County and would rather not face a competitor.

Maryland gets most of its power from plants in other states, electricity that flows across 13 states and D.C. through a regional grid called PJM.

“Yes, we need more generation across the PJM footprint,” said Mason Emnett, a senior VP at Constellation Energy Generation. “Do we need it in Maryland? It is a policy choice.”

2029

It takes three years to win approval for renewables — wind, solar and batteries. It’s the fastest way to add power.

“If we can remove some of the hurdles and get some projects out of the queue, those can start producing energy, like soon,” said state Sen. Brian Feldman, chair of the Education, Energy and the Environment Committee.

The problem comes back to policy.

President Donald Trump stepped on wind projects, including the ones planned off Ocean City. If those projects were completed, they could power 750,000 homes sooner than any other source.

The president’s departure from office three years from now will reset the national climate for renewables. People developing these projects are just waiting for the game to change again.

Batteries are another story.

Last year, Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson introduced legislation to make it easier to build a battery network around the state. It would cope with peak demand.

Opponents worried about loss of local control and the bill died in committee.

What’s not clear is why it hasn’t come back yet.

2030

This is when Jason Stanek, a former PSC chair now with PJM, predicts rolling blackouts.

Data centers in Virginia — a worldwide hub — are driving demand for electricity, increasing about 5% a year. Consumer rates have spiked, resulting in painful utility bills.

PJM or states could force data centers to provide their own power, but the companies that rely on them — Amazon, Meta and others — are powerful.

There’s also opposition to enhancing the grid. Baltimore County is in an uproar over the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project, which would add transmission lines to supply 500,000 megawatts to Virginia data centers.

Moore could require new Maryland data centers, 14 are in the works, to at least provide batteries. Those behind the centers say it’s a good idea, just not ready yet.

“Long term, battery storage is another one of those solutions that industry is leaning into,” said Khara Boender, director of state policy for the Data Center Coalition.

2032

Construction of Constellation’s power plant in Harford could start in six years, eventually powering half a million homes. It could start sooner; the company has turbines ready to install.

But Constellation is at the mercy of PJM, which must determine if the grid needs expansion to handle the extra power.

Either way, electricity won’t flow until after Trump leaves office and wind policy changes again. Wind projects still could come online before the first gas burns.

That means Maryland could be stuck for decades with a plant obsolete the day it opens.

2036

Maryland gets 40% of its power from Constellation’s two nuclear reactors at the Calvert Cliffs Clean Energy Center.

The company could add a third reactor, perhaps a small modular design. That would generate more electricity than all the solar and wind projects ever built in Maryland but would take a decade.

It’s already spending billions on relicensing the existing reactors, a process that would extend the plant’s life to midcentury.

Constellation also could use AI to optimize Calvert Cliff’s production. It’s doing that in Illinois and Pennsylvania.

The difference is, it has long-term contracts in those states. It wants them in Maryland, too.

“We could do it in relatively short order, compared to building a new reactor,” said Emnett, the Constellation VP. “But we need that long-term financial security in order to move forward.”

Today

All this has to be on the governor’s mind.

Monday, he released outlines of a plan to help consumers with their bills, and push improvements in transmission lines. There was little in his Lower Bills and Local Power Act that addresses the underlying problems.

So, will he provide a solution or push off hard choices to the future?

“[That] we’re at risk, according to our PJM grid operator, that we could be facing brownouts and blackouts, is something we have to take very, very seriously,” Feldman said. “Very, very seriously this session and next session.”