Storm fee is coming off Cleco bills

Cleco power customers will save a combined $22.3 million a year beginning March 1, when the Storm Restoration Charge drops from their bills, the utility announced.
The Louisiana Public Service Commission approved the charge in 2006. The charge raised money that the utility used to repay debt incurred when it repaired damage caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
“This is good news for our customers,” said Bill Fontenot, president and CEO of Cleco, in a press release.
“Cleco’s residential customers will, on average, pay $3.75 less per month resulting in savings of about $45 over 12 months, which supports our ongoing efforts to lower customers’ bills.”
The cost to repair Cleco’s system and restore power following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita was approximately $160 million, the largest combined storm expense in the company’s history. The company secured low-interest bonds to finance the storm costs, create a storm reserve for future weather events and reduce customers’ costs.
The storm recovery effort for Hurricane Katrina included 3,400 workers and lasted 29 days. Storm recovery for Hurricane Rita included 2,400 workers and lasted 11 days.
“We’ll always remember these back-to-back storms because of the catastrophic damage and resources required to repair our system. Both storms tested our endurance and far exceeded anything we’ve ever experienced,” said Fontenot. “We’re glad these two storms are behind us.”
Cleco Corporate Holdings LLC is a regional energy holding company that conducts its business operations through its subsidiaries, Cleco Power LLC and Cleco Cajun LLC. Cleco Power is a regulated electric public utility company that owns 10 generating assets with a total nameplate capacity of 3,357 MWs and serves approximately 290,000 customers in Louisiana through its retail business and supplies wholesale power in Louisiana and Mississippi. Cleco Cajun is an unregulated utility company that owns eight generating assets with a total nameplate capacity of 3,555 MWs, with contracts serving nine Louisiana cooperatives, five wholesale municipal customers and one electric utility. For more information about Cleco, visit us at www.cleco.com.