Constellation is one of the area's largest employers, with 10,200 employees at the end of last year, including more than 6,700 in Maryland.
Concerns about the economic impact of a merger and political debate in Maryland over deregulation and rising electricity rates forced Constellation to pull out of a $12.4 billion merger with Florida's FPL Group nearly two years ago.
Any deal would have required approval by state regulators because of Constellation's ownership of BGE, a regulated utility.
The merger would have created a company with an estimated $28 billion in annual revenue and operations stretching from Maine to California.
Constellation, which needs large amounts of financing for its energy-trading activities, was attracted to FPL for the steady cash flow of its Florida Power & Light unit.
This time around, any kind of sale would require federal and state approval.
The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the situation, reported yesterday on its Web site that EDF is considering raising its stake or taking over Constellation.
Besides BGE, Constellation owns nuclear power plants, including Calvert Cliffs on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay, where it wants to build one of the first U.S. nuclear units in decades.
Baltimore Sun reporter Robert Little contributed to this article.
EDF Group
Paris-based provider of power and services to more than 38 million worldwide, with 157,000 employees and $85.62 billion in revenue (59.6 billion in euros) last year.
Europe's largest power producer formed a joint venture with Constellation in 2007 called UniStar, to develop and deploy new nuclear power plants in the U.S.
Controlled by the French government, EDF also announced this month that it had increased its stake in Constellation to nearly 10 percent of the company. It now is Constellation's largest shareholder.
