Charles P. Crane Generating Station
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Electric power generation |
| Founded | 1961 |
| Defunct | 2018 |
| Fate | Demolished (2022) |
| Headquarters | Bowleys Quarters, Maryland , United States |
Area served | Baltimore County, Maryland |
| Products | Electricity |
| Owner | C.P. Crane, LLC (subsidiary of Avenue Capital Group) |
The Charles P. Crane Generating Station was a coal-fired power facility with a capacity of 400 megawatts (MW), situated on Carroll Island Road in Bowleys Quarters, Maryland, approximately 14 miles east of Baltimore. Managed by C.P. Crane, LLC, a subsidiary of Avenue Capital Group, the plant comprised two coal-burning units rated at 190 MW and 209 MW, respectively, both utilizing cyclone steam boilers. Additionally, the site housed a 16 MW oil-fueled combustion turbine. Spanning 157 acres on the Middle River Neck Peninsula near Seneca Creek within the Gunpowder River watershed, the plant was located in Baltimore County’s rural district. Operations ceased in June 2018, and the facility was demolished through implosion in August 2022.
Coal delivery
Coal was transported to the station via a dedicated rail spur linked to Norfolk Southern Railway and Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor. In 2006, authorization was granted for coal shipments by barge through a channel dredged from Chesapeake Bay. The cyclone boilers operated on medium-sulfur, low-fusion coal primarily obtained from the North Appalachian Pittsburgh Seam 8. The plant’s annual coal consumption averaged around 950,000 tons.
History
Initially commissioned as oil-fired units, the two cyclone boilers began service with Unit 1 in 1961 and Unit 2 in 1963. Originally burning eastern bituminous coal, both units transitioned to fuel oil following a directive from the Department of Energy under the Energy Supply and Environmental Coordination Act of 1974. By 1980, they were converted back to coal firing and equipped with the second and third utility-scale baghouses installed in the United States after the pioneering installation at Brunner Island Steam Electric Station.
The generating station bears the name of Charles P. Crane, who served as president (1950–1957) and chairman (1955–1961) of Baltimore Gas and Electric Company, which later became part of Constellation Energy.
2012 sale
On August 9, 2012, Exelon reached an agreement to sell Charles P. Crane along with Brandon Shores and Herbert A. Wagner Generating Stations to Raven Power Holdings LLC, an entity under Riverstone Holdings LLC. This divestment was mandated as a condition for regulatory approval of Exelon's merger with Constellation Energy to mitigate concerns regarding market power within the regional wholesale electricity sector. The transaction was completed on November 30, 2012.
Talen Energy and 2016 sale
Ownership transferred to Talen Energy on June 1, 2015, following its formation through Riverstone Holdings’ merger with generation assets spun off from PPL Corporation. To adhere to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) regulations designed to prevent market dominance in the PJM Interconnection region, Talen was required to divest approximately 1,300 MW of generation capacity. On October 23, 2015, Talen announced intentions to sell C.P. Crane to an affiliate of Avenue Capital Group as part of these mandated sales. The deal closed February 16, 2016, after which the plant operated under C.P. Crane, LLC.
Closure
In November 2016, the plant’s owners submitted a deactivation notice to PJM Interconnection. The facility officially shut down on June 1, 2018. Although there were considerations for retrofitting with natural gas turbines, these plans were abandoned by 2022 in favor of demolition. The station was imploded on August 19, 2022. Post-demolition proposals included developing 285 townhomes on the site; however, Baltimore County councilmember David Marks championed transforming the area into a public park—a position supported by U.S. representative Dutch Ruppersberger and Baltimore County executive Johnny Olszewski. In September 2024, Baltimore County Council unanimously approved allocating $10 million in state open space funding to acquire the property for park creation.