AWS Calvert Cliffs (Lusby) data center, Lusby, Maryland

Amazon Web Services withdrew its plan for a data center campus at the Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant in Lusby, Calvert County, Maryland, on August 4, 2026. The withdrawn plan, filed in May as the Calvert Technology Center, called for eight buildings across three campuses on land owned by Constellation Energy, and would have drawn up to 500 megawatts of power supplied by the nuclear plant next door.

Residents learned of the plan from a job posting in February 2026, and a petition by resident Melissa Emmal gathered more than 10,000 signatures against it. In the June 23 primary, voters ousted all three county commissioners who had voted against pausing data center development.

Six weeks later Amazon pulled out, calling it a business decision. "After careful evaluation, Amazon has decided not to move forward with the proposed site development in Calvert County at this time," the company said.

On August 18, before a packed room, the county commissioners adopted a six-month moratorium under which no new data center site plans will be accepted. "This moratorium is a first step, but it cannot be the last," said Danielle Pak, vice president of Citizens for Calvert.

On September 22, the outgoing board told staff to advertise a vote to extend the moratorium by two years at its December 15 meeting, the day the newly elected board is sworn in. Across Maryland, Prince George's County has a two-year hold, Harford County a ban with no time limit, and Frederick County a pause that now runs through July 1, 2027.