Cleco Launches Ambitious Five-Year Grid Resilience Plan Across Louisiana
Cleco is rolling out the largest investment in its history to overhaul Louisiana’s electric grid, targeting fewer outages and faster restoration for nearly 300,000 customers across the state. The fast-moving initiative includes more than 550 projects focused on strengthening infrastructure and improving reliability.
The comprehensive effort is well underway across key towns including Covington, Eunice, Jeanerette, Lacombe, New Iberia, Pineville, and Slidell. Work involves critical upgrades like replacing aging electrical equipment, undergrounding vulnerable power lines, reinforcing utility poles, and raising substations above flood-prone areas to reduce storm damage.
Urgent Upgrades to Protect Residential and Critical Customers
Andre Guillory, Cleco’s Chief Customer Officer, emphasized the immediate benefits for both residential customers and vital facilities such as hospitals and emergency services.
“Our resiliency efforts benefit residential customers and a portion of the projects will focus on critical customers, like hospitals and emergency services, whose work is essential during times of crisis,”
Guillory stated.
Currently, over 700 utility poles have been assessed for maintenance or replacement to prevent failures in coming storms. This is part of a broader push to minimize disruptions during severe weather events that heavily impact the Gulf Coast region.
Systemwide Impact: Fewer Outages, Faster Power Returns
Danny Rider, Director of Distribution Reliability and Resiliency at Cleco, projects that these upgrades will deliver lasting financial and operational benefits.
“These projects will further strengthen systemwide resilience, reduce storm-related costs and result in fewer outages and faster restoration times for our customers,”
Rider explained.
The plan builds on Cleco’s strong track record, as the company has met or exceeded the Louisiana Public Service Commission’s reliability standards for 27 consecutive years, keeping power on over 99.9% of the time.
What’s Next for Louisiana’s Power Grid?
This sweeping initiative represents a decisive shift in utility infrastructure management for Louisiana, a state long challenged by hurricanes and flooding. Cleco’s investment aims to head off expensive, lengthy outages and safeguards essential services during emergencies.
With more than 550 projects in progress or scheduled, residents can expect safer, more reliable power delivery statewide in the years ahead. The utility is prioritizing critical infrastructure while delivering broader community benefits.
Cleco Corporate Holdings LLC operates through its regulated utility, Cleco Power LLC, which owns eight generating units with a total capacity of 2,676 megawatts and serves roughly 298,000 customers primarily in Louisiana’s retail electricity market.
As severe weather seasons approach, this accelerated work signals a proactive step toward modernizing the state’s energy backbone and protecting families and businesses from outages that disrupt daily life and public safety.
