Cleco restores power to 71 percent of customers impacted by Winter Storm Fern
Crews facing challenging conditions
Cleco and over 600 contractors have restored power to 71 percent of the 17,800 customers who lost power following Winter Storm Fern.
“Our crews are making tremendous progress despite challenging conditions,” said Clint Robichaux, director of distribution operations and reliability. “Working during the storm yesterday meant that, in some instances, we would restore power only to have weather conditions cause outages again.”
Other obstacles crews face include, broken poles, downed wire, and impassable roads due to fallen trees, limbs and other debris.
Winter Storm Fern Power Outages as of 2 p.m.
| Parish | Number of customers without power |
|---|---|
| Desoto | 3,278 |
| Grant | 640 |
| Natchitoches | 170 |
| Rapides | 422 |
| Red River | 183 |
| Sabine | 416 |
| Total | 5,109 |
“At this point in the restoration process, we anticipate full restoration to our Rapides and Grant Parish customers by end of day today with some exceptions in the Flatwoods and Iatt Lake areas. And while we expect to make considerable headway in the Mansfield area today, most customers in the area will have power restored tomorrow with a small number of outages going into Wednesday,” said Robichaux. “While we’re working toward those goals, there is the possibility that crews uncover unexpected damage that could prolong some outages, but that is our best assessment at this point in the day.”
For information on Cleco’s restoration efforts visit the company’s Outage Map at www.cleco.com/outages and the Storm Center page at www.cleco.com/stormcenter.
Winter Storm Fern Highlights
- At peak, 17,800 Cleco customers were without power.
- As of Jan. 26, 2026, at 2 p.m., Cleco has restored power to 71 percent of customers.
- In addition to all Cleco resources, the company has added 637 contractors.
- With freezing temperatures expected to persist this week, Cleco is suspending service disconnects through January 31, 2026.