Cleco Rolls Out Largest Grid Resilience Overhaul to Protect Power Across Louisiana
Cleco has launched its boldest-ever grid resiliency plan aimed at dramatically reducing power outages and slashing restoration times for nearly 300,000 customers in Louisiana — a move resonating nationwide amid growing climate threats. Work is already underway across cities including Covington, Eunice, Pineville, and more as part of this sweeping initiative.
The five-year, $billion-level effort represents Cleco’s most significant investment in infrastructure hardening in company history. It includes more than 550 projects such as replacing aging electrical equipment, undergrounding vulnerable power lines, reinforcing utility poles, and elevating substations above flood plains. These actions address long-standing fault lines in grid stability, helping communities avoid prolonged outages and costly storm responses.
Critical Infrastructure and Customer Focus
Andre Guillory, Cleco’s Chief Customer Officer, emphasized resilience benefits residents and high-stakes users alike. “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 said. Protecting lifeline services is a clear priority amid intensifying weather events and emergency demands.
Currently, Cleco crews are conducting thorough maintenance assessments on more than 700 utility poles across multiple parishes. This proactive surveying identifies poles needing repair or replacement before storms strike, minimizing outage risks. Targeted cities include Jeanerette, Lacombe, Madisonville, New Iberia, and Slidell.
Cutting Costs and Bolstering Stability
Danny Rider, director of distribution reliability and resiliency, highlighted the dual financial and reliability gains the projects promise. “These projects will further strengthen systemwide resilience, reduce storm-related costs, and result in fewer outages and faster restoration times for our customers,” Rider confirmed. Cleco’s track record supports this confidence — the utility has met or surpassed Louisiana Public Service Commission standards for over 27 years, keeping power on more than 99.9% of the time.
Cleco operates through its regulated utility, Cleco Power LLC, serving close to 298,000 retail customers and supplying wholesale power across Louisiana. The company’s capacity to generate 2,676 megawatts across eight units powers a substantial regional footprint.
Why Californians and US Consumers Should Care
While centered in Louisiana, Cleco’s unprecedented grid investment offers a blueprint for utilities nationwide battling aging infrastructure and climate-driven disasters. California and other states routinely face wildfire and storm challenges affecting power reliability. As US energy grids demand upgrades to meet modern threats, Cleco’s proactive approach spotlights the financial and human imperative of resilience.
California customers, policymakers, and utility operators monitoring power reliability can draw lessons from Cleco’s commitment to extensive preventative work, technology upgrades, and critical customer protection. Reducing outage frequency and repair time is central to avoiding widespread disruptions that compromise safety and economic stability.
Next Steps and Public Impact
As Cleco advances through its five-year agenda, residents and critical service providers across Louisiana will experience stronger, more dependable power delivery. The company pledges to keep communities informed on project progress and emergency preparedness enhancements.
In an era where power failures ripple beyond lost light to impact health, safety, and livelihoods, Cleco’s historic engineering push offers urgent, tangible progress against an unpredictable future. The US energy landscape watches closely as regional utilities scale up investments to safeguard millions of lives nationwide.
Andre Guillory: “Protecting critical services during crises is essential, and our resilience projects bring that assurance to our communities.”
The California Herald will continue monitoring major utility efforts across the nation as power resilience becomes a top priority for all Americans.
