Cleco Power
Central and southwestern Louisiana, including Alexandria, Pineville and parts of Acadiana. The second largest investor owned utility in the state.
- Type
- Investor owned
- Accounts
- 290K
What they credit you
About three cents, netted instantaneously
Published termsExports are compensated at avoided cost, reported around three cents per kWh, measured on an instantaneous basis rather than netted across the billing period.
- Month to month
- Very little, because netting is instantaneous.
Published terms · checked 2026-09-05 · source
Battery backup is mandatory
in Cleco territory.
Cleco does not credit the power you send back at the rate it charges you to take it.
That does not make solar a bad idea in Cleco territory. It changes what you should build. When exports are worth a fraction of retail the credit stops being the return, and the job becomes using more of your own production inside the house, which usually means a larger array than a one for one utility would need.
Sizing is where that gets decided, so ask about it directly. Louisiana measures exports instantaneously and pays avoided cost, so power sent out at noon is sold at about three cents and power drawn back at eight in the evening is bought at retail. Only what the house uses as it is produced is worth full value. Cleco sets its own limits. Ask Cleco what it allows before you accept that a bigger system is off the table.
A battery then does two separate jobs. It moves daytime production into the evening so you use it instead of selling it, and it keeps the house running when the grid goes down. That second job is not a bonus. Panels on their own shut off in an outage, by design, so a roof full of them powers nothing during a storm. That is the part we will not refer around.
So we treat it as a requirement, not an upgrade. We will not refer you for a panels-only system in Cleco territory, and you should be skeptical of anyone who quotes you one without raising storage first.
Our referral policy, not a legal or utility requirement
What your installer should be telling you
Ask for the current avoided cost figure in writing, and be sceptical of any savings model that treats exports as worth the retail rate.
Applying to Cleco
What Cleco itself requires, as distinct from what the state rule requires. Read from its own published guidelines on the date shown.
- The change was a single Commission vote, on 11 September 2019
- It ended the one for one net metering programme the state had run since 2007, and replaced it with avoided cost compensation effective 1 January 2020.
- Exports are measured instantaneously
- Not netted across the month. Power that leaves the meter at noon is sold at avoided cost; power that comes back in the evening is bought at retail. They are two separate transactions.
- Avoided cost here is reported at around three cents
- Against Louisiana retail rates several times that. Confirm the current figure with your utility, because it moves.
- Anyone who got in by 31 December 2019 is grandfathered for fifteen years
- Customers who submitted a completed interconnection request and completed installation by that date receive credit at full retail rates for fifteen years, running to around 2034 and 2035. If you are buying a Louisiana house with solar, ask for that date.
- This is a self consumption state now
- With instantaneous netting and a three cent export price, what makes a Louisiana system pay is the load that runs while the sun is up. Air conditioning helps here more than in most places.
From Cleco’s published guidelines · checked 2026-09-05 · source
Cleco net metering questions
- Does Cleco offer one for one net metering?
- No. Exports are compensated at avoided cost, reported around three cents per kWh, measured on an instantaneous basis rather than netted across the billing period.
- What does Cleco pay for power sent back to the grid?
- About three cents, netted instantaneously. Very little, because netting is instantaneous.
- Do I need a battery with Cleco?
- Yes, and we treat it as mandatory. Because Cleco does not credit exports one for one, the return has to come from using your own production rather than selling it, which after dark means storage and usually a larger array than a one for one utility would need. The other half is backup: panels alone shut off in an outage, so a battery is what keeps the house running in a storm. We do not refer panels-only systems in Cleco territory. This is our referral policy, not a legal or utility requirement.
- How do I find my Cleco bill?
- Sign in at cleco.com. Open My Account, then Billing. Open the latest bill and save the PDF. Or screenshot the summary page. If you cannot get to it, a rough guess at your average monthly amount is enough to start.
- What is the catch with Cleco?
- Ask for the current avoided cost figure in writing, and be sceptical of any savings model that treats exports as worth the retail rate.
Installers serving Cleco customers
Pick one. Only the company you choose receives your details, and only that company calls you.
These are real companies operating in Cleco territory, ordered by reviews, years trading and BBB grade. None of them pays us for placement. Pick the one you want and we will call you to arrange it.
Ordering combines three things we read from primary sources: Google review count and rating, years trading taken from the company’s Better Business Bureau profile rather than its own marketing, and its BBB letter grade. BBB accreditation is shown but never scored, because it is a paid membership rather than a mark of quality.
Check any contractor license yourself at the state register. Do that before you sign anything, with any company, including ours.