FERC has denied Oxbow Solar’s waiver request for a 24-month extension of its commercial operation deadline for a planned generating facility in Southwestern Electric Power Co.’s northwestern Louisiana service territory.

In its April 23 order (ER25-1274), the commission said Oxbow Solar had failed to meet FERC’s criteria for waivers of tariff provisions: that the applicant acted in good faith; the waiver is of limited scope; it addresses a concrete problem; and the waiver does not harm third parties or have any other “undesirable consequences.”

FERC found Oxbow Solar failed to show it acted in good faith to diligently advance the solar facility and said it appears “Oxbow Solar’s need for the instant waiver may have been caused, in part, by its own inaction.” The developers did not dispute they failed to meet an amended generator interconnection agreement’s milestone to notify SWEPCO to begin construction or that they met the milestone almost two and a half years late, the commission said.

The planned 73.5-MW generating facility had an initial operating date of Dec. 1, 2023.

FERC also said Oxbow Solar failed to demonstrate that granting the requested waiver would have addressed a concrete problem. It said Oxbow Solar’s only justification is that “the market has corrected for increased project costs.”

“Given the absence of a detailed explanation in the record of how the 24-month extension will allow Oxbow Solar to secure financing and achieve commercial operation, we find that Oxbow Solar has failed to sufficiently demonstrate that its waiver request will remedy a concrete problem,” the commission wrote.

Oxbow Solar had requested the extension, from Nov. 30, 2026, to Nov. 30, 2028, back in February. It said rapid increases in insurance, engineering, procurement, and construction costs and difficulties in securing solar components had hampered its ability to negotiate offtake agreements in time to meet the commercial operation deadline.