Energy Central-News Article

Constellation Energy was the only Baltimore-based corporation to make the annual Fortune 500 list after its first full year as an independent company.

The energy company, with $24.4 billion in revenue last fiscal year, came in 162nd on Fortune magazine’s annual ranking of the largest U.S. corporations by revenue, released Monday. The revenue threshold to make the list was $7.2 billion this year, up 13% from a year ago.

Constellation was one of only three Maryland-based companies on the list. Bethesda-based defense giant Lockheed Martin ranked 60th, down from 55th on last year’s list, with $65.98 in revenue. And Marriott International, also based in Bethesda, ranked 192nd, climbing from the 270th spot, with $20.8 billion in revenue.

Just two years ago, three Baltimore-area companies earned spots on the list for the first time since 2012, T. Rowe Price Group, Sinclair Broadcast Group and McCormick & Co. In 2021, T. Rowe Price ranked 447th, Sinclair 465th and McCormick 482nd, but all have since slipped off the list.

While McCormick’s revenue has grown a little over 1% in the past two years, T. Rowe’s revenue is down nearly 20% amid shaky global markets. And Sinclair’s revenue plunged after it deconsolidated the troubled cable sports networks from its financials.

Constellation, the nation’s largest producer of carbon-free energy and an energy supplier to residential, business and public sector customers, said the Fortune 500 ranking recognizes its role as a key player in the energy sector.

“As one of America’s largest and most diversified clean energy companies, Constellation is well positioned and purpose-driven to make real and lasting impacts on the communities we serve,” Constellation CEO Joe Dominguez said in a news release. “By continuing to invest in clean energy technologies, we are expanding carbon-free generation; delivering clean, safe, reliable power; and improving access to jobs and opportunities across the country.”

Constellation split from former parent company, BGE-owner Exelon Corp., in February 2022, making Baltimore its headquarters and becoming the city’s largest publicly traded company. It produces about 90% of the state’s carbon-free energy and has more than 3,200 employees and contractors in Maryland. Exelon was separating its utilities and power-generation businesses.

Constellation is pursuing a strategy of expanding its fleet of carbon-free energy-generating facilities, including nuclear, hydro, wind and solar facilities, and investing in clean energy technologies. Constellation recently acquired a 44% ownership stake in the South Texas Project nuclear plant and plans to seek license renewals at its Clinton and Dresden nuclear plants in Illinois. The company recently began producing hydrogen at a nuclear-powered clean hydrogen plant in upstate New York.

In the 2023 Fortune list, Walmart and Amazon.com maintained their No. 1 and No. 2 spots, with Exxon Mobil, Apple and UnitedHealth Group rounding out the top five. Fortune 500 companies represent two-thirds of the U.S. gross domestic product with $18 trillion in revenue, Fortune said.