AWS withdraws Calvert Technology Center application after Maryland county primary revolt

Amazon Web Services formally withdrew its Calvert Technology Center Conceptual Site Development Plan application on 4 August 2026, ending a months-long effort to build a 500 MW, 2.46 million sq ft data center campus on Constellation Energy land adjacent to the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Lusby, Maryland.^[1]

What was proposed

The project would have been Calvert County's first large-scale data center development, spanning three separate campuses on roughly 2,000 acres of Constellation Energy land adjacent to the Calvert Cliffs plant. Site plans filed with the county called for eight data center buildings, ranging from about 266,000 to 332,000 square feet each, totalling roughly 2.46 million square feet of data center space alongside supporting office, utility and security buildings. The campus would have reportedly totalled around 500 MW, served via a power agreement with Constellation Energy.

Calvert Cliffs is the only nuclear plant in Maryland. Its two pressurised water reactors are capable of delivering 1,756 MW, which is roughly 40 percent of Maryland's total power generation and 80 percent of the state's clean power generation. The proposed AWS load would therefore have represented roughly 28 percent of the plant's nameplate output.

The political sequence that preceded the exit

AWS submitted the initial application on 4 May 2026, paying application fees on 18 May and environmental health fees on 26 May, putting the proposal into county review. The application ran into immediate regulatory friction: at the 21 July Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) meeting, Planning and Zoning Director Jason Brinkley said that AWS's conceptual site plan did not meet the basic requirements for stormwater management and would have to be resubmitted.

The political backdrop was already hostile. The withdrawal comes after fierce voter pushback against hyperscale data centers in Calvert County's primary election on 23 June, in which the three county commissioners who had previously voted against a pause on data centers were all ousted by candidates who took issue with the trajectory of data center development in the county. A citizen group's petition calling for a lengthy moratorium had accumulated nearly 9,000 signatures.

County Commissioner President Todd Ireland announced the withdrawal at the 4 August BOCC meeting, saying the county received word of the decision "late last night, around 11:30-12 Monday evening" from the AWS attorney. The company did not publicly state a reason for pulling out.

Constellation's position

Calvert Cliffs owner Constellation issued a statement arguing the opportunity had not closed. The company said "the opportunity continues in Maryland and Calvert County to create jobs, grow the economy and support in-state federal agencies through investment in digital infrastructure," adding that it "looks forward to continuing to work with the county and state on this opportunity."

Constellation has broader ambitions at the site. The company has announced plans to explore construction of 2,000 MW of new nuclear power at Calvert Cliffs, alongside battery storage and gas-fired generation options. That proposal includes 20-year life extensions for the plant's two existing units, set to retire in 2034 and 2036 without intervention, and uprates adding 190 MW to their current 1,790 MW capacity.

What happens next

The Calvert County Board of County Commissioners will hold a public hearing on 18 August 2026 at 10:30 a.m. to consider a temporary six-month moratorium on site plan approvals for data center development projects. A second data center proposal from Natelli Holdings, located along Route 4 near Calvert Cliffs State Park, as well as an existing landfill, wastewater treatment facility and county-owned gun range, remains active and will fall within the moratorium's scope if the ordinance passes.

The Calvert episode is an early, concrete example of local electoral politics overriding hyperscaler site selection - a dynamic that has so far been largely theoretical in the data center siting literature. Whether AWS pursues an alternative Maryland site, or whether Constellation finds a different large-load anchor tenant for the land, will be the next signal to watch.