In 2025, Cleco is celebrating 90 years of safely and reliably powering Louisiana homes, businesses and communities.
Formerly Louisiana Ice & Electric Company, the company began in 1935 in Bunkie, Louisiana as an ice and cold storage business. A decade later and under a new name, Central Louisiana Electric Company, electricity became the company’s sole focus – laying the groundwork for what Cleco is today.
Today, Cleco’s headquarters is in Pineville, Louisiana, and the company provides power to 295,000 customers across 24 Louisiana parishes, including some of the state’s most iconic businesses like the Acadiana Regional Airport, RoyOMartin, Supreme Rice and Tony Chachere’s.
“While 90 years of powering Louisiana is a milestone event for Cleco, our focus extends beyond being an energy leader,” said Bill Fontenot, president and CEO of Cleco Corporate Holdings LLC. “We’re an economic driver in Louisiana, a premier employer and a dedicated corporate citizen.”
Cleco is working to energize Louisiana by:
Investing in innovative and sustainable energy
– Cleco Power, in partnership with D.E. Shaw Renewable Investments, is constructing one of the largest solar projects in Louisiana.
Being recognized as a premier employer in Louisiana
– Cleco employs more than 1,200 people across Louisiana.
Developing partnerships to align efforts, foster collaboration and promote economic growth
– Cleco’s investment in higher education supports workforce development and builds a skilled workforce.
– Cleco supports state and regional economic development organizations through funding, training and partnerships.
Being one of the most reliable and resilient utilities in the state and in the industry
– Cleco is the only electric utility provider to meet Louisiana’s reliability standards for each of the last 26 years. And in 2024, Cleco kept customer lights on over 99% of the time.
– In 2024, the company began doubling its vegetation management efforts to strengthen grid resilience, reduce power outages and shorten restoration times.
Offering superior customer service
– Cleco has more customer service offices than any other power company in Louisiana.
– All of Cleco’s customer service representatives work and live in Louisiana.
Helping customers save money through energy efficiency
– In 2024, Cleco’s energy efficiency program, Power Wise, helped customers save approximately 37.6 million kWh and assisted customers with more than $5 million in incentives and rebates to support sustainability and efficiency.
Ensuring our communities thrive through robust corporate giving and employee volunteer programs, and economic development
– In 2024, Cleco supported over 600 Louisiana organizations through corporate donations and employees volunteered 5,000 hours.
Being an industry leader
– Cleco has been recognized 30 times by the Edison Electric Institute for its power recovery and mutual assistance efforts following service disruptions caused by extreme weather or other natural events since the awards program’s inception in 1998.
To learn more about Cleco and how we’re celebrating our 90th anniversary, visit www.cleco.com/90.
Cleco Corporate Holdings LLC is a regional energy holding company that conducts its business operations through Cleco Power LLC, a regulated electric utility company that owns eight generating units with a rated capacity of 2,676 MWs and serves approximately 295,000 customers in Louisiana through its retail business and supplies wholesale power in Louisiana. For more information about Cleco, visit www.cleco.com.
