Calvert County votes on a data center moratorium on 18 August as Natelli Holdings stays in the queue

AWS formally withdrew its Calvert Technology Center application on 4 August 2026, ending a 500 MW, 2.46 million sq ft campus proposal adjacent to Constellation Energy's Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant in Lusby, Maryland^[1]. The withdrawal removes the largest project from the county's active review queue - but it does not resolve the underlying regulatory question. Calvert County will hold a public hearing on 18 August 2026 to vote on a six-month moratorium on all data center site plan approvals.^[1]

What the moratorium would do

The Board of County Commissioners will convene at 10:30 a.m. in the Chesapeake Hearing Room, Prince Frederick, to consider a temporary six-month moratorium on site plan approvals for data center development projects. The proposed ordinance would establish a pause to allow time to review and adopt regulations and zoning ordinance text amendments related to data centers and heavy industrial use conditions, and to complete any necessary studies or analysis.

Planning and Zoning Director Jason Brinkley confirmed there was "no chance" AWS could have obtained site plan approvals before a moratorium became official - a finding that preceded the withdrawal and likely shaped AWS's calculus.

The moratorium process was set in motion by the new board composition. The withdrawal comes after fierce voter pushback against hyperscale data centers in Calvert County's primary election on 23 June 2026. The three county commissioners who previously voted against a pause on data centers were all ousted in their primaries by candidates who took issue with the trajectory of data center development in the county.

Natelli Holdings has not withdrawn

AWS's exit does not clear the field. Natelli Holdings has proposed a 133-acre data center campus on county-owned land originally designated for a regional park. The project could require up to 300 MW of power and involve multiple data center buildings, with the developer ultimately leasing or selling the facility to future operators.

In the first Board of County Commissioners meeting following the primary election, Commissioner Catherine Grasso claimed Natelli Holdings would no longer be pursuing a data center project in Calvert County. "Because of the result of their last election, Natelli knows they're no longer in the running," Grasso said at the 7 July meeting. Natelli Holdings Vice President Thomas Natelli Jr. disputed that characterisation, telling The BayNet the company was still pursuing a project.

A moratorium, if passed on 18 August, would freeze Natelli's path to site plan approval alongside any other applicant.

Constellation keeps the door open

Plant owner Constellation argued in a statement that although AWS has withdrawn its plans, "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." "All of this can be done responsibly while protecting and expanding the Calvert Cliffs Clean Energy Center, Maryland's largest source of clean, reliable energy. Constellation looks forward to continuing to work with the county and state on this opportunity."

Calvert Cliffs operates two nuclear units near Lusby, Maryland, owned by Constellation Energy. The co-location model - data centers drawing on a nuclear plant's existing grid connection and cooling infrastructure - remains commercially attractive to Constellation regardless of which tenant pursues it.

The Maryland pattern

Calvert is not an isolated case. The electoral result in Calvert was described as perhaps the most acute example statewide of data centers' growing impact on local politics, though voters in Frederick County also ousted their council chair, Brad Young, after the council voted to expand an existing data center zone in Adamstown. After the election, Frederick County Executive Jessica Fitzwater enacted, via executive order, a pause on data center development through the end of the year.

The pattern - primary defeats followed by moratoria - is now a replicable template for communities seeking to slow hyperscale development before zoning frameworks catch up.

The 18 August hearing is the next concrete decision point. If the moratorium passes, no new data center site plans can advance in Calvert County for at least six months, giving the incoming board time to draft permanent zoning rules. If it fails or is narrowed, Natelli Holdings and any future applicant - including a potential AWS resubmission - would face a less constrained path.