Maryland’s only nuclear power plant, the Calvert Cliffs Clean Energy Center in Lusby, continues to play an outsized role in powering the state nearly 50 years after first coming online.
Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Energy highlighted the facility’s national significance, noting that Calvert Cliffs provides nearly 40% of Maryland’s electricity and helped pave the way for many of the reactors operating across the United States today. The recognition coincided with an anniversary for Unit 2, which first connected to the grid during this week back in 1976, one year after Unit 1 began operations.
Owned and operated by Constellation Energy, Calvert Cliffs houses two nuclear reactors that together produce up to 1,790 megawatts of clean, carbon-free electricity, enough to power the equivalent of more than 1.3 million homes. Beyond its role in the grid, the site sits on scenic land overlooking the Chesapeake Bay and is home to a Champion Chestnut Oak listed in the American Forests national register, a reminder that major energy infrastructure and environmental stewardship coexist at the facility…