Executive Officers

Fontenot is president and chief executive officer of Cleco Corporate Holdings LLC, a regional energy holding company that conducts its business operations through its subsidiaries, Cleco Power LLC and Cleco Cajun LLC. 

He began his career with Cleco in April 1986, holding numerous executive leadership positions with increasing responsibilities, including chief executive officer of Cleco Power from February 2017 to January 2018, chief operating officer of Cleco Power from April 2016 to February 2017 and senior vice president of utility operations for Cleco Power from March 2012 to April 2016. During his 30 plus years in the energy industry, Fontenot has managed the development and restructuring efforts of generation projects valued at over $900 million, including Cleco Power’s $1 billion generating unit, Madison 3. He also has worked in marketing and helped develop Cleco's merchant power businesses.

Fontenot also serves on the boards of the Council for a Better Louisiana, the LSUA Foundation Fund Development Committee and the Central Louisiana Community Foundation and is president of the Association of Edison Illuminating Companies, the electric utility industry’s longest-serving and preeminent association of leading operations experts.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge.

Breedlove has a distinguished career in the power generation sector, including 22 years at Entergy Corporation. At Entergy, he was responsible for leading their generation support services organization, holding responsibility for outage planning and management, engineering and technical support, workforce development, NERC compliance, and plant operational excellence programs. Prior to leading Entergy’s generations support organization, he advanced through multiple plant operations and maintenance leadership roles.

He joined Cleco in 2021 as the Vice President of Generation Operations for Cleco Cajun and Cleco Power – a role he held until his appointment as COO.

Breedlove holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Tulane University and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Mississippi State University.

Guillory assumed her current leadership role in July 2021. She began her career with Cleco in August 2004 where she has served in various finance roles with increasing responsibilities, including general manager of finance and assistant treasurer from May 2016 to February 2018, treasurer from February 2018 to September 2019, and most recently as president of Cleco Cajun LLC, an unregulated utility of Cleco Corporate Holdings LLC, from September 2019 to July 2021.

Her career highlights include working with the Louisiana Public Service Commission to finalize the $1.0 billion acquisition of NRG South Central Generating, a subsidiary of NRG Energy, Inc., and financing both the Cleco Cajun acquisition in 2019, as well as the 2016 privatization of Cleco Corporation. Prior to joining the corporate finance team at Cleco, Guillory served as the director of financial analysis at Cleco Midstream where she worked to monetize unregulated assets and long-term contracts.

Guillory holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration with dual majors in accounting and finance from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.  She also is a certified public accountant and chartered financial analyst.

Prior to joining Cleco and for 25 years, Kleehammer served in roles with increasing responsibility for Entergy Corporation, including vice president of regulatory and public affairs, vice president of business development services, vice president of gas distribution, and various regulatory, strategic planning and finance roles before assuming his most recent position as vice president, commercial & industrial journey and products. Before Entergy, Kleehammer worked at the Chicago Board of Trade and in New York in the commodities industry.

Kleehammer earned his Juris Doctor and MBA from Tulane University in New Orleans and holds a bachelor's degree in economics and management from DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. He is a member of the Louisiana State Bar Association.

Hilton assumed his current leadership role in January 2024. He began his career with Cleco in April 1989, holding numerous positions of leadership with increasing responsibilities, including director of resource operations, general manager of resource and fuels, general manager of transmission strategy and vice president of MISO operations.

Hilton holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Louisiana State University at Alexandria.

Montegut joined Cleco in 2008 and has worked in various capacities within Cleco’s financial organization, including the corporate analytics department, investor relations, corporate taxation, transformation office and transaction teams. Most recently, she served as the Vice President of Corporate Development, Analytics, and Innovation.

Career highlights include integrating the $1.0 billion acquisition of NRG South Central Generating, a subsidiary of NRG Energy, Inc. and working on the 2016 privatization of Cleco Corporation.

Sybil serves as the treasurer for Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance and is on the advisory board for Louisiana Clean Fuels. She also serves on local nonprofit boards in her community.

Montegut holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Northwestern State University.

Guillory began his career with Cleco in 2006 as a Relay Support Engineer. He has served in various roles in engineering, distribution, business consulting, and customer services – including manager of Distribution Engineering, manager of Business Consulting, and director of Metering, Billing & Revenue Collection.

Career highlights include being program manager of the 2016 Strategic Alignment and Real-time Transformation (START) Project, a critical initiative that established a technical platform for growth and sustainability that also addressed aging technical systems. Guillory also served as project manager of Cleco’s Advanced Metering Infrastructure deployment from 2010 to 2013.

Guillory holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical and electronics engineering from McNeese State University.

Richard assumed his current leadership role in October 2021. He began his career with Cleco in December 2000, holding numerous positions with increasing responsibilities, including director of resource planning, director of Cleco solutions and director of strategic planning.

Sharp holds a bachelor of general studies degree from Northwestern State University and a master of business administration from Bellevue University.