CNL

Cleco Corporation

An electric utility headquartered in Pineville, Louisiana, that generates and delivers power to homes and businesses across the central part of the state. It began in the early 1900s as a Bunkie ice-making plant whose small generator ran its machinery, with the extra electricity sold to nearby houses and shops. That ice business grew into the Central Louisiana Electric Company, and the nickname "Cleco" — formed from the initials of that longer name — was later adopted as the official corporate name.