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Acadia Power Partners to Sell Half of Acadia Plant to Entergy Louisiana

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^{Published in Business and Finance on Friday, October 30th 2009 at 13:50 GMT by Market Wire}  

PINEVILLE, LA--(Marketwire - October 30, 2009) - Acadia Power Partners, LLC (APP) announced today that it has signed a purchase and sale agreement for Unit 2 of the Acadia Power Station, a 580-megawatt generating unit located near Eunice, to Entergy Corp.'s subsidiary, Entergy Louisiana, LLC. APP is 50 percent owned by a subsidiary of Cleco Corp.'s (NYSE: [ CNL ]) subsidiary Cleco Midstream Resources LLC.

"The sale of Acadia Unit 2 continues progress toward our goal of maximizing the value of our Cleco Midstream assets," said Mike Madison, president and CEO of Cleco Corp. "The successful execution of this transaction will further reduce our merchant market risk and bring value to our shareholders."

The Acadia Power Station, which began commercial operation in 2002, consists of two Siemens-Westinghouse combined-cycle gas-fired generating units, nominally rated at 580 megawatts each. APP proposes to sell 100 percent of Acadia Unit 2 and 50 percent of the facility's common assets. In a separate transaction earlier this year, Cleco Power LLC is acquiring Acadia Unit 1 and the other 50 percent of the facility's common assets pending regulatory approval. Upon closing the transaction, Cleco Power will serve as operator for the entire facility.

Entergy Louisiana's purchase is contingent upon, among other things, obtaining necessary approvals, including full cost recovery from various federal and state regulatory and permitting agencies and the filing of notification under the Hart-Scott-Rodino antitrust law. Closing is expected to occur in late 2010 or early 2011. Energy Louisiana and APP also have entered into a power purchase agreement for 100 percent of the output of Acadia Unit 2 that will commence on May 1, 2010, and is set to expire at the closing of the acquisition transaction.

Cleco Corp. is a regional energy company headquartered in Pineville, La. It operates a regulated electric utility company that serves about 276,000 customers across Louisiana. Cleco also operates a wholesale energy business with approximately 1,350 megawatts of nameplate generating capacity. For more information about Cleco, visit [ www.cleco.com ].