Cleco restores power to over half of customers following storms

Additional resources being sent to hardest hit areas of Opelousas and Slidell

PINEVILLE, La. – April 11, 2024 (Noon) – Cleco and contractor crews continue to work to make system repairs and restore power following severe storms that passed through the state yesterday.

 Statewide, in addition to Cleco storm resources, the company has added 400 contractor line mechanics and vegetation specialists from out of state to assist with clean-up and power restoration efforts.

 “Out of the 400 additional resources, we’ve directed over 125 additional resources to Opelousas and over 250 personnel to Slidell,” said Clint Robichaux, director of distribution operations and reliability. “The storm impacted our entire system statewide, and as we are wrapping up clean-up, system repairs and power restoration in other areas of the state, we will be sending even more Cleco and contractor resources to Opelousas and Slidell.”

 In addition to trees on lines and downed wire, the company is currently reporting over 50 broken poles in Opelousas and over 70 broken poles in Slidell.

 “Because of flooding and debris in roads, our crews have only assessed 50 percent of the system in St. Tammany,” said Robichaux. “We expect the damage, like the number of broken poles, to increase as the crews continue to work throughout the day.”

 Cleco will provide customers with estimated restoration times later in the day.

 “We expect to make progress on system repairs and power restoration today but anticipate that this could be a multi-day restoration event for some areas,” said Robichaux.