Cleco Unleashes Historic $500M Grid Resilience Campaign to Slash Outages
Cleco is rushing forward with its largest grid resiliency investment ever, launching more than 550 projects aimed at drastically cutting power outages and speeding up restoration times for nearly 300,000 customers across Louisiana.
The five-year initiative, now underway in communities including Pineville, Covington, Eunice, Jeanerette, Lacombe, Madisonville, New Iberia, and Slidell, targets critical infrastructure upgrades such as undergrounding vulnerable power lines, replacing aging electric equipment, reinforcing utility poles, and elevating substations above flood-prone areas.
Major Upgrades Focus on Critical Services and Residential Reliability
Andre Guillory, Cleco’s Chief Customer Officer, emphasized that while all customers will benefit from fewer outages, special attention is being paid to critical customers like hospitals and emergency services. “These are essential operations during crises,” Guillory said, underscoring the plan’s focus on maintaining vital public safety and healthcare power reliability.
Already, crews have assessed over 700 utility poles for repair or replacement, a significant early milestone toward strengthening the network’s backbone.
Cleco’s Promise: Stronger System and Lower Storm Costs
According to Danny Rider, director of distribution reliability and resiliency, the upgrades will not only create a toughened electric grid but will also bring financial benefits by reducing costs linked to storm damage and outages.
“Our projects will further strengthen systemwide resilience, reduce storm-related costs and result in fewer outages and faster restoration times for our customers,” Rider confirmed.
This aggressive infrastructure overhaul complements Cleco’s track record of performing above expectations, as the company has consistently met or exceeded Louisiana Public Service Commission standards for the past 27 years, maintaining electricity availability at above 99.9% uptime.
Why This Matters Now: Resilience in a Changing Climate
Though focused in Louisiana, Cleco’s forward-thinking approach highlights a growing national imperative: modernizing aging electrical grids to withstand more frequent extreme weather events linked to climate change. Alaska and US utilities alike are watching such efforts closely as climate-driven storms and outages loom larger across diverse geographies.
With outages causing widespread disruption in both urban and rural areas, projects like Cleco’s signal a strategic shift toward hardening critical infrastructure and protecting communities.
Next Steps and Public Impact
Cleco will continue phased work on its extensive portfolio of grid improvements over the coming years, with periodic updates expected to keep customers informed. Residents in affected towns should prepare for intermittent maintenance activity as crews deploy new equipment and upgrade facilities.
This unprecedented investment by Cleco marks a vital leap in utility resilience — one that could set new standards for grid reliability nationwide while safeguarding lives and livelihoods during emergencies.
