Copyright Baltimore Sun
Maryland loves to talk big about being a national leader — Innovation! Climate action! Economic growth! But when it comes to the one thing that makes every promise possible — reliable, affordable energy — we continue pretending we can manifest electrons through hope, hashtags and more out-of-state imports. Meanwhile, our neighbors are getting serious. As an example, Delaware just launched a Nuclear Energy Feasibility Task Force. Yes, Delaware — that tiny state we usually only reference when discussing toll plazas — has realized the obvious: If you want data centers, manufacturing jobs and a resilient grid, you must build real power plants. Not just fields of solar panels backed up by the PJM marketplace prayer circle. Maryland has what every other state wishes they had: a world-class nuclear station at Calvert Cliffs — with room to expand; multiple retired coal plant sites begging for redevelopment into 24/7 clean power; a booming AI/data sector demanding enormous new baseload; communities (like mine in Parkton) facing the consequences of infrastructure scarcity — the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project and high voltage powerline “extension cords” crossing the state. And — shocker — there are real solutions out there. Hybrid gas-nuclear facilities that solve intermittency now while ramping to full nuclear later. Small modular reactors. Companies like One Nuclear, Oklo, RPower, Kairos and Zachry are begging for partners who want progress instead of platitudes. Multiple pathways. None considered. Why? Because Maryland’s energy “strategy” seems more focused on which lobbyist groups get their feel-good legislation this session than whether our lights will turn on in five years. There is no integrated resource plan. No long-term capacity roadmap. Just an endless parade of short-term political wins that leave the public with higher bills and lower reliability. I get it — nuclear sounds scary — but it’s not! Scary is a future where hospitals wonder if they can keep the lights on during a heat wave or where data centers pack up and move to… Ohio. (Talk about frightening.) Our political leaders reassure us this is all fine — that PJM will bail us out forever. But PJM is warning everyone that supply is tightening. Hope is not a fuel source. Maryland needs to stop hiding behind process and finally lead by building something: Launch a statewide Nuclear and Firm Power Task Force — now. Prioritize sites we already have: Calvert Cliffs, Brandon Shores, Dickerson. Pursue hybrid gas-nuclear projects that deliver results within this decade. Develop a distributed energy strategy that reduces transmission fights like MPRP. Engage residents — we’re not the villains, we’re the customers. We can’t set aggressive climate goals and then refuse the tools needed to meet them. We can’t demand tech jobs and then shrug when the grid collapses under the load. We can’t keep saying “no” while expecting a future that requires “yes.” Maryland doesn’t need a miracle. It just needs leadership willing to stop running from reality. Start somewhere. Start now. Because the only thing more dangerous than energy that’s hard to build… is pretending we never have to. Mark A. Aitken lives in Parkton and is senior vice president of advanced technology at Sinclair Broadcast Group, whose executive chairman is The Baltimore Sun’s principal owner David Smith.
