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Workforce Safety 

Workplace Safety 2023

Developing Our Community 

Scholarships & Development

  • Power of a Promise

    The Power of a Promise Scholarship is part of Cleco’s $1.0 million commitment to Central Louisiana Technical Community College (CLTCC), which was announced in 2019, to help fund training, curriculum development and scholarships.

    It’s designed to help economically disadvantaged, female and minority students who plan to attend CLTCC in Alexandria.

    Cleco’s diversity and inclusion team designed the Power of a Promise Scholarship for economically disadvantaged, female and minority students who are juniors or seniors in high school and who plan to attend Central Louisiana Technical Community College Alexandria Campus and pursue a diploma in industrial manufacturing technology.

  • Cleco Workforce Scholarship

    Cleco awarded six $1,000 scholarships to students at South Louisiana Community College (SLCC) as part of Cleco’s “Workforce Scholarships”. The scholarships are to assist in the education of Louisiana residents as they begin to enter the workforce.

  • Mathcounts

    Cleco partnered with the Louisiana Engineering Society (LES) to bring the state MATHCOUNTS competition to the Pineville Country Inn & Suites.

    MATHCOUNTS, a math enrichment competition for students in grades six through eight, is open to all types of schools – public, private, charter, virtual and home schools.  The top four students from each state competition receive an all-expenses paid trip to the national competition. 

Charitable Contributions

  • Spark

    Spark is Cleco’s employee giving and company matching platform. Spark allows employees to donate to causes they are passionate about that are located in Louisiana. Cleco will match an employee’s contributions dollar-for-dollar up to $1000 a year. 

  • Dollars for Doers

    Cleco believes that building connections between its employees and its communities creates a more meaningful, fulfilling, and enjoyable workplace. Cleco is committed to being a responsible company in the communities where it does business. Employees can be rewarded with $10 for every hour of volunteer time, up to $500 per year. Organizations are also able to enroll in the platform in order to receive donations faster and connect with corporate giving and volunteering opportunities at Cleco. Cleco also frequently collaborates with organizations on volunteer activities for its employees. Throughout the year, employees make a positive impact in their local communities and have found a multitude of special ways to volunteer.

  • Power of Sharing

    Cleco created the Power of Sharing Fund in 1985 to help elderly customers with low or fixed incomes pay their energy bills. The funds from this program are donated by Cleco, employees and customers and distributed by the Louisiana Association of Councils on Aging (COA) across the state. Currently, 16 COAs receive funds from Cleco's Power of Sharing Fund, including Acadia, Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Calcasieu, DeSoto, Evangeline, Grant, Iberia, Red River, Sabine, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Mary, St. Tammany and Vernon. To find out if you or a loved one qualifies for assistance, contact one of the participating COAs. 

  • #GivingTuesday

    Cleco employees participated in #GivingTuesday, which is a global day of generosity that took place on November 29, 2022.  Employees showed their generosity in a multitude of ways, including making over $80,000 in monetary contributions through the company’s online platform, Spark.

Press Releases

Cleco Power earns EEI Emergency Response Award for historic efforts to restore service after Hurricane Laura

Heath Fountain w Cleco Power EEI Award_Jan 14 2021_web_news
Jan 14, 2021

PINEVILLE, La. (Jan. 14, 2021) — Today, the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) presented Cleco Power with the 2020 Emergency Response Award for its response to Hurricane Laura, the most powerful storm to hit Louisiana since 1856.

 

The Emergency Response Award is given to select EEI member companies in recognition of their recovery and assistance efforts following service disruptions caused by extreme weather or other natural events.  The winners were chosen by a panel of judges following an international nomination process, and the awards were presented during EEI’s virtual Winter Board and Chief Executives Meeting.

“We experienced a record-setting hurricane season in the midst of a global health pandemic, and it’s an honor to dedicate this award to the Cleco team for their unwavering efforts, to the workers from across the country who helped us repair our damaged system and restore power, to our customers for their support and patience and everyone in between,” said Bill Fontenot, president and CEO of Cleco Corporate Holdings. 

 

Hurricane Laura made landfall in southwest Louisiana on Aug. 27 as a Category 4 storm.  It was stronger than Hurricanes Rita, Gustav and Katrina and left half of Cleco Power’s 288,000 customers without power, as it tore a path through the entire state. 

“Over the past year, many of our nation’s electric companies and their customers have endured historic storms and wildfires and other significant weather-related events,” said EEI President Tom Kuhn.  “Working around-the-clock to restore power safely and quickly to customers and deploying mutual assistance crews to support impacted companies are hallmarks of the electric power industry.  When disasters strike, impacted and neighboring electric companies are quick to assess damage and to respond and assist with restoration.

“I congratulate and applaud Cleco Power for demonstrating continued commitment to the customers and to the communities it serves. In the midst of a global pandemic and often in the most hazardous of conditions, Cleco Power and its frontline employees worked around-the-clock to restore service safely and quickly and is exceptionally deserving of this prestigious award.”

EEI has recognized Cleco with 24 awards since the program’s inception in 1998, earning 13 Emergency Response Awards and 11 Emergency Assistance Awards.

Media Contact:

[email protected]

Community Outreach

Cleco’s customers were impacted by multiple hurricanes in 2020.  This was an unprecedented storm season for the utility.  During all the restoration efforts, Cleco used radio, television, and social media to keep customers up to date on restoration efforts.  For example, following Hurricanes Laura and Delta alone, Cleco made 271 Facebook posts, sent 1,828 private messages to customers, made 91 press releases and participated in 46 TV interviews ” said Jennifer Cahill, Director – Corporate Communications

 

  • Cleco notified customers that it had over 1,800 workers ready to respond to outages caused by Hurricane Laura.  The workforce consisted of Cleco personnel, as well as contractors from 11 states.
  • Cleco kept customers up to date on a regular basis regarding how many customers were restored each day.  The company shared the types of damage being identified and the expected timelines for restoring power to customers

Cleco Marketplace Shopping BagPower Wise Program 

Power Wise™ is an energy efficiency program. Whether a residential or commercial customer, Power Wise has solutions that can help customers save energy and learn more about energy efficiency. Through Power Wise, customers can receive direct rebates for appliance and equipment upgrades and purchases, sign up for a free home energy audit to identify problem areas and make energy-saving improvements to make homes and businesses more energy efficient. Power Wise also provides resources to help teachers teach energy and water efficiency in the classroom.

Distributed Generation 

Customers can reduce their electric utility bills through Cleco Power's Distributed Generation Program. It is available to residential customers utilizing renewable energy resources up to 25 kilowatts and small commercial customers utilizing renewable energy resources up to 300 kilowatts who do not have any other form of generation connected to the grid.

Distributed Generation

Upholding Energy Affordability & Reliability 

Reliability 2023

Sustaining Our Workforce in 2022

Employee Demographics v2