Cleco Kicks Off Historic $Billions Grid Resilience Project Across Louisiana
Cleco Corporate Holdings LLC has launched its largest-ever grid resilience initiative, rolling out more than 550 critical infrastructure projects statewide to slash outages and accelerate power restoration for nearly 300,000 customers. This five-year effort is transforming Louisiana’s electric grid with smart upgrades designed to withstand severe storms and other disruptions.
At the heart of the program is a comprehensive upgrade plan that includes replacing outdated electric equipment, undergrounding vulnerable power lines, reinforcing utility poles, and elevating substations above flood plain levels. The work is already underway in multiple communities across the state, including Covington, Eunice, Jeanerette, Lacombe, Madisonville, New Iberia, Pineville, and Slidell.
Essential Focus on Residential and Critical Services
Andre Guillory, Cleco’s Chief Customer Officer, emphasized the broad-reaching benefits of the effort. “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.
The initiative includes an intense assessment of more than 700 utility poles to identify and replace those most at risk. According to Danny Rider, Cleco’s director of distribution reliability and resiliency, this extensive work will not only reinforce the grid but also deliver economic advantages by lowering storm-related repair costs.
Danny Rider: “These projects will further strengthen systemwide resilience, reduce storm-related costs and result in fewer outages and faster restoration times for our customers.”
Delivering Reliability With Proven Performance
Cleco has a strong track record, consistently exceeding Louisiana Public Service Commission standards for reliability for the past 27 years. The utility has maintained a remarkable 99.9% uptime for its customers’ power supply, underscoring its commitment to uninterrupted service.
The company owns eight generating units with a combined rated capacity of 2,676 megawatts (MW) and operates through its regulated electric utility, Cleco Power LLC. This robust infrastructure supports both wholesale and retail energy delivery throughout Louisiana.
Why This Matters Now – And Beyond Louisiana
The urgency of Cleco’s investment comes as extreme weather events increasingly threaten grid stability nationwide. South Carolina and other states with vulnerable coastal and rural power systems face similar risks of outages and prolonged blackouts.
Cleco’s model of proactive, large-scale grid hardening demonstrates an actionable blueprint for utilities to follow, improving reliability while protecting critical services during crises. For customers in Louisiana and potentially across the Southeast, the breakthroughs from this five-year infrastructure overhaul promise safer, faster, and more reliable power.
What’s Next for Cleco Customers and Communities
The utility will continue assessments and upgrades in the months ahead, pushing technology and resiliency initiatives forward aggressively. Residents and critical service providers can expect fewer service interruptions and more rapid recoveries from outages.
As Cleco sets a new standard for grid modernization, energy consumers from Louisiana to South Carolina should watch for similar investments likely to expand nationwide, signaling a new era of smarter, more resilient electricity networks.
