Louisiana-based Cleco Corporate Holdings closed on its $1 billion acquisition of more than 3,500 megawatts of electric generating assets, transmission operations and contracts from NRG South Central Generating, a unit of NRG Energy.

The deal more than doubles Cleco's generating capacity and increases its customer base by more than 75%. “This is the largest acquisition in Cleco’s 85-year history,” said Bill Fontenot, Cleco president and CEO in a statement.

Cleco Cajun LLC, an unregulated Cleco business unit, bought the eight generating assets, transmission operations and contracts to provide wholesale power to nine Louisiana cooperatives, five municipalities across Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas, and one investor-owned utility.

Assets include the 225 MW Bayou Cove, the 430 MW Big Cajun-I, the 1,461 MW Big Cajun-II, the 1,263 MW Cottonwood and the 176 MW Sterlington power plants. NRG agreed to sell then lease the Cottonwood plant, a natural gas-fired combined cycle plant, through May 2025.

In mid-January, Cleco received approval from Louisiana utility regulators to buy the NRG business unit. Previous approvals included the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Texas Public Utility Commission and the Federal Trade Commission.

Cleco Power is a regulated electric utility company. Prior to the NRG acquisition, it owned nine generating units with a total nameplate capacity of 3,310 MW. It served around 288,000 customers in Louisiana through its retail business and supplied wholesale power in Louisiana and Mississippi.