Cleco (formerly the Central Louisiana Electric Company) is an energy services company founded in January 1935 in Pineville in Rapides Parish in Central Louisiana. It operates a regulated electric utility company, Cleco Power, that serves approximately 281,000 customers across Louisiana. Cleco also operates an unregulated wholesale energy business, Cleco Midstream, with approximately 775 megawatts of generating capacity.

Cleco's existing power generation operations utilize a mix of fuels including; western coal, lignite, petroleum coke, and natural gas. Its electricity is transmitted and provided to customers in 23 of Louisiana's 64 parishes.

In 2010, Cleco placed into service its $1 billion new power generation facility Madison Unit 3 north of Alexandria, Louisiana. The new facility will utilize solid fuels including waste refinery coke which is available in Louisiana because of the many refinery operations in the state.

On March 28, 2016, the Louisiana Public Service Commission in a 4-1 vote approved the sale of Cleco for $4.9 billion to a foreign purchasing group led by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets, British Columbia Investment Management Corporation, John Hancock Financial, and other infrastructure investors. Cleco shareholders and area business leaders spoke strongly in support of the purchase. Earlier, the PSC had rejected the sale but soon reversed itself. Clyde C. Holloway, the dissenting commissioner from Rapides Parish, expressed fear for "the long term consequences of Cleco's captive ratepayers. Cleco as we know it has ceased to exist. It is now owned by a private foreign investment company that plans to flip it in eight to ten years. And that same private foreign investment company is financing the deal with a massive amount of debt and ratepayers’ tax money. … I am proud of my 'No' vote and will continue to work hard for those folks who can't walk away."