exhibit991.htm

PINEVILLE, La., Nov. 5, 2008 – Cleco Corp. (NYSE: CNL) reported today 2008 third-quarter net income applicable to common stock of $37.1 million, down $30.9 million from the $68.0 million recorded in the third quarter of 2007. Included in third-quarter 2007 net income was a $24.1 million gain from the Acadia settlement with Calpine.

On an earnings per share basis, Cleco recorded earnings of $0.62 per diluted share for the quarter, down $0.51 per share from the $1.13 per share recorded in the third quarter of 2007. The Acadia settlement contributed a net $0.41 per share to earnings in the third quarter of 2007.

For the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2008, net income applicable to common stock was $88.6 million, or $1.47 per diluted share, down $0.87 per share from the $2.34 per share for the same period in 2007. Included in the first nine months of 2007 was $0.41 per share from the Acadia settlement and $0.81 per share from the Calpine bankruptcy claim.

“Although the credit markets are tight and the global economy as a whole has weakened, the fundamentals of Cleco’s core business remain strong, and we are still on target to meet our financial goals for the year,” said Mike Madison, president and CEO of Cleco Corp. “Since our last earnings update, we’ve recovered from Hurricanes Gustav and Ike and have reached an agreement with the Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC) on the handling of the storm restoration costs. We also completed the fuel off-loading facility for our Rodemacher Unit 3, an important milestone in our largest solid-fuel generation project ever. Our storm cost recovery plan, Rodemacher Unit 3 project and other major initiatives are discussed in detail in our strategic update later in this release.”

Consolidated Diluted Earnings Per Share Allocated to Subsidiaries
	Diluted EPS
	Three Months Ended Sept. 30,
Subsidiary	2008		2007
Cleco Power LLC	$	0.51	$	0.57
Cleco Midstream Resources LLC (excluding 2007 gain from Acadia settlement, net of impairment on investment)		0.08		0.10
Corporate and Other1		0.03		0.05
Earnings excluding Acadia net gain	$	0.62	$	0.72
Gain from Acadia settlement, net of impairment on investment		-		0.41
Earnings applicable to common stock	$	0.62	$	1.13

$	1.13	2007 Third-Quarter Diluted EPS
	(0.62)	Absence of 2007 gain from Acadia settlement preferred distribution (equity income)
	(0.26)	Absence of 2007 gain from Acadia settlement guaranteed payment (other income)
	0.47	Absence of 2007 impairment of investment in Acadia (equity income)
$	0.72

	(0.03)	Lower Cleco Power non-fuel revenue, net
	(0.01)	Lower storm surcharge collections
	(0.04)	Losses on energy hedging, net
	(0.14)	Higher Cleco Power expenses
	0.16	Higher Cleco Power AFUDC (allowance for funds used during construction)
	(0.02)	Lower Cleco Midstream results (excluding 2007 gain from Acadia settlement)
	(0.02)	Lower corporate results
$	0.62	2008 Third-Quarter Diluted EPS

Kilowatt-hour sales were $0.05 per share lower compared with last year’s results. Lower retail sales resulted in a $0.06 per share decrease in results, partially offset by a $0.01 per share increase in wholesale customer revenue. Kilowatt-hour sales for the third quarter of 2008 were down 5.7 percent from the same period a year ago largely due to extended hurricane-related outages and cooler weather. Cooling-degree days for the quarter were 5.0 percent above normal, but 3.8 percent below third-quarter 2007 levels.

(Million kWh)	For the three months ended Sept. 30,
	2008			2007			Change
Electric Sales
Residential		1,144			1,170			(2.22	)%
Commercial		721			733			(1.64	)%
Industrial		762			786			(3.05	)%
Other retail		36			35			2.86	%
Total retail		2,663			2,724			(2.24	)%
Sales for resale		153			165			(7.27	)%
Unbilled		(134	)		(44	)		(204.55	)%
Total retail and wholesale customer sales		2,682			2,845			(5.73	)%

Interest expense increased $0.08 per share compared to last year’s results. Of that, $0.05 per share was due to higher interest on solid-waste disposal bonds and senior notes, $0.02 per share was related to the senior secured storm recovery bonds, and $0.03 per share related to the carrying cost of the tax benefits of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita storm damage costs, partially offset by $0.02 per share of lower interest related to draws against Cleco Power’s credit facility.

AFUDC, primarily associated with the Rodemacher Unit 3 project, contributed an additional $0.16 per share as compared to the third quarter of 2007. The equity portion of AFUDC associated with the Rodemacher Unit 3 project was up $0.14 per share, while the debt portion of AFUDC contributed $0.02 per share more than in the third quarter of 2007.

Evangeline was down $0.03 per share for the third quarter of 2008 compared to the same period a year ago, primarily due to higher maintenance expenses and write-offs of obsolete equipment, both related to an unplanned 2008 outage. Excluding the 2007 gain from the Acadia settlement and impairment of investment, Acadia had lower losses of $0.01 per share compared to the same period last year due to $0.04 per share of lower interest paid to the holding company, partially offset by $0.03 per share for a break-up fee paid to Acadia Power Holdings (APH) in 2007 related to the sale of Calpine’s interest in the Acadia project.

Corporate earnings decreased $0.02 per share in the quarter-to-quarter comparison, primarily due to $0.04 per share of lower affiliate interest received from Acadia, $0.01 per share of lower interest income, and $0.02 per share reduction in the cash surrender values of corporate life insurance policies. These decreases were partially offset by $0.02 per share of lower interest expense related to the May 2008 repayment of $100 million of corporate debt and $0.03 per share of adjustments/true-ups related to income taxes.

Consolidated Diluted Earnings Per Share Allocated to Subsidiaries
	Diluted EPS
	Nine Months Ended Sept. 30,
Subsidiary	2008			2007
Cleco Power LLC	$	1.51		$	1.09
Cleco Midstream Resources LLC (excluding 2007 gains from the Calpine bankruptcy claim, net, and Acadia settlement, net of impairment on investment)		(0.05	)		(0.13	)
Corporate and Other1		0.01			0.16
Earnings excluding Acadia net gain	$	1.47		$	1.12
Gain from Calpine bankrupcty claim, net		-			0.81
Gain from Acadia settlement, net of impairment on investment		-			0.41
Earnings applicable to common stock	$	1.47		$	2.34

$	2.34	Nine Months ended Sept. 30, 2007 Diluted EPS
	(0.81)	Absence of 2007 gain from Calpine bankruptcy claim (equity income)
	(0.62)	Absence of 2007 gain from Acadia settlement preferred distribution (equity income)
	(0.26)	Absence of 2007 gain from Acadia settlement guaranteed payment (other income)
	0.47	Absence of 2007 impairment of investment in Acadia (equity income)
$	1.12

	0.04	Higher Cleco Power non-fuel revenue
	(0.03)	Lower storm surcharge collections
	(0.06)	Higher Cleco Power expenses
	(0.01)	Conversion of ESOP preferred shares to common shares
	0.48	Higher Cleco Power AFUDC
	0.08	Lower Cleco Midstream losses (excluding gains from the Calpine bankruptcy claim and Acadia settlement, net of impairment of investment)
	(0.15)	Lower corporate results
$	1.47	Nine Months ended Sept. 30, 2008 Diluted EPS

Revenue from wholesale customers added $0.03 per share compared to last year’s results while other retail sales were down $0.02 per share compared to last year’s results. Lower retail sales generally resulted from milder winter weather and extended hurricane-related outages. Heating-degree days for the period were lower than 2007 levels by 9.5 percent.

(Million kWh)	For the nine months ended Sept. 30,
	2008		2007		Change
Electric Sales
Residential		2,789		2,789		-
Commercial		1,874		1,869		0.27	%
Industrial		2,177		2,255		(3.46	)%
Other retail		101		102		(0.98	)%
Total retail		6,941		7,015		(1.05	)%
Sales for resale		327		384		(14.84	)%
Unbilled		12		67		(82.09	)%
Total retail and wholesale customer sales		7,280		7,466		(2.49	)%

Interest expense increased $0.11 per share year over year. The increase resulted from $0.09 per share of higher interest on solid-waste disposal bonds and senior notes, $0.05 per share on the storm recovery bonds, and $0.04 per share related primarily to the carrying cost of the tax benefits of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita storm damage costs. These increases were partially offset by a $0.05 per share true-up of lower interest expense related to the storm damage surcredit and $0.02 per share of lower interest related to the repayment of medium-term notes in 2007.

Other expenses were $0.11 per share lower compared to the same period last year. Lower employee compensation and benefits and professional fees contributed $0.06 per share. Other taxes, depreciation expense, and generation maintenance work collectively were $0.07 per share lower. Offsetting this amount was $0.02 per share of higher expenses related to capacity contracts.

AFUDC, primarily associated with the Rodemacher Unit 3 project, contributed an additional $0.48 per share as compared to the first nine months of 2007. The equity portion of AFUDC associated with the Rodemacher Unit 3 project was up $0.41 per share, while the debt portion of AFUDC contributed $0.07 per share.

Excluding the 2007 gains from the Calpine bankruptcy claim and the Acadia settlement, net of impairment of investment of $1.22 per share, Acadia had lower losses of $0.08 per share largely due to $0.11 per share of lower interest paid to the holding company. This was partially offset by $0.03 per share related to the break-up fee paid to APH in 2007 related to the sale of Calpine’s interest in Acadia. Evangeline was down $0.02 per share primarily due to higher maintenance expenses. Lower administrative and other miscellaneous expenses added $0.02 per share in the year-to-year comparison.

Corporate earnings decreased $0.15 per share in the year-to-year comparison. Of that, $0.11 per share was due to lower affiliate interest income received from Acadia, $0.03 per share was related to decreases in cash surrender values of corporate life insurance policies, and $0.05 per share was related to lower interest income from temporary investments and higher taxes. Partially offsetting these decreases were $0.02 per share of lower interest expense due to the payoff of $100 million of senior corporate notes in May 2008, $0.01 per share from the absence of the 2007 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission penalty, and $0.01 per share due to the absence of preferred dividends previously paid on shares of preferred stock converted to shares of common stock.

“With the planned fall outage at Evangeline, we are maintaining our 2008 earnings target in the range of $1.60 to $1.70 per share,” said Madison. “Those targets assume 2008 capital expenditures of about $265 million on the Rodemacher Unit 3 project (including AFUDC), normal weather for the remainder of the year, and the continuation of our current rate plan. Cleco Midstream earnings targets, in addition to the planned fall

Cleco Power estimates its storm costs from Gustav and Ike to be approximately $85 million. The LPSC has approved the company’s request to capitalize approximately $45 million of this estimate and take the remaining $40 million in O&M expenses from the company’s storm damage cost reserve, leaving approximately $19 million in the reserve for future storm damage. The capital expenditures are expected to be funded significantly by the storm-related tax benefits.

“We are less than 12 months away from the commercial operation date of our Rodemacher Unit 3 project,” said Madison. “You may recall, Cleco Power signed an amendment to the Engineering, Procurement and Construction contract with the contractor moving the substantial completion date from September 30, 2009, to June 30, 2009. Nevertheless, there is still much to do with regard to startup of the unit.”

“As our Rodemacher Unit 3 project nears completion, we also are working with the LPSC to implement our new rate plan proposal so our new rates go into effect when the unit comes on-line,” said Madison. “The plan we’re proposing allows us to recover the $1 billion capital cost of the project, cover our increased business costs, and still lower customers’ bills. A decision from the LPSC is expected in May 2009.”

“As to the 2007 long-term request for proposal (RFP) for up to 600 megawatts of additional capacity, our goal is to have an agreement in hand by the end of the year or the first part of 2009,” said Madison. “We will then file for approval with the LPSC. This RFP will help us secure the additional capacity we will need after Rodemacher Unit 3 begins commercial operations.”

“Finally, Cleco Power and two of our neighboring utilities have signed a memorandum of understanding to upgrade our interconnected transmission systems in south Louisiana,” said Madison. “The joint project will greatly improve electric service reliability and is anticipated to go before the LPSC for approval in the first quarter of 2009.”

Cleco management will discuss the company’s third-quarter 2008 results during a conference call scheduled for 11 a.m. EST (10 a.m. CST) Thursday, Nov. 6, 2008. The call will be broadcast live on the Internet. A replay will be available for 12 months. Investors may access the webcast through the company’s Web site at www.cleco.com by selecting “For Investors” and then “Cleco Corporation Third-Quarter 2008 Earnings Conference Call.”

Cleco Corp. is a regional energy company headquartered in Pineville, La. It operates a regulated electric utility company that serves 273,000 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.

CLECO CORPORATION CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME (Thousands, except share and per share amounts) (UNAUDITED)
For the three months ended Sept. 30,	2008			2007

Operating revenue
Electric operations	$	333,936		$	300,862
Other operations		7,004			9,238
Affiliate revenue		2,735			1,591
Operating revenue		343,675			311,691
Operating expenses
Fuel used for electric generation		93,717			97,863
Power purchased for utility customers		150,502			108,649
Other operations		24,822			23,454
Maintenance		10,754			10,205
Depreciation		19,283			19,739
Taxes other than income taxes		9,033			10,620
Total operating expenses		308,111			270,530
Operating income		35,564			41,161
Interest income		1,669			2,873
Allowance for other funds used during construction		17,786			9,552
Equity income from investees		9,662			27,726
Other income		937			28,402
Other expense		(2,276	)		(1,284	)
Interest charges
Interest charges, including amortization of debt expenses, premium and discount, net of capitalized interest		20,619			13,752
Allowance for borrowed funds used during construction		(4,923	)		(3,444	)
Total interest charges		15,696			10,308
Income before income taxes		47,646			98,122
Federal and state income tax expense		10,513			30,077
Net income		37,133			68,045
Preferred dividends requirements, net of tax		12			12
Net income applicable to common stock	$	37,121		$	68,033


Average shares of common stock outstanding
Basic		60,031,962		59,669,692
Diluted		60,291,616		59,947,916
Basic earnings per share
From continuing operations	$	0.62	$	1.14
Net income applicable to common stock	$	0.62	$	1.14
Diluted earnings per share
From continuing operations	$	0.62	$	1.13
Net income applicable to common stock	$	0.62	$	1.13
Cash dividends paid per share of common stock	$	0.225	$	0.225

CLECO CORPORATION CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME (Thousands, except share and per share amounts) (UNAUDITED)
For the nine months ended Sept. 30,	2008			2007

Operating revenue
Electric operations	$	803,397		$	765,791
Other operations		29,826			26,478
Affiliate revenue		7,790			4,673
Operating revenue		841,013			796,942
Operating expenses
Fuel used for electric generation		162,140			204,671
Power purchased for utility customers		392,245			308,388
Other operations		69,958			74,493
Maintenance		35,456			35,386
Depreciation		57,970			59,827
Taxes other than income taxes		27,320			30,286
Gain on sale of assets		(99	)		-
Total operating expenses		744,990			713,051
Operating income		96,023			83,891
Interest income		4,544			8,030
Allowance for other funds used during construction		46,462			21,715
Equity income from investees		2,723			97,608
Other income		1,094			28,644
Other expense		(4,322	)		(2,536	)
Interest charges
Interest charges, including amortization of debt expenses, premium and discount, net of capitalized interest		49,884			41,786
Allowance for borrowed funds used during construction		(14,526	)		(7,502	)
Total interest charges		35,358			34,284
Income before income taxes		111,166			203,068
Federal and state income tax expense		22,573			63,187
Net income		88,593			139,881
Preferred dividends requirements, net of tax		35			446
Net income applicable to common stock	$	88,558		$	139,435


Average shares of common stock outstanding
Basic		59,975,190		58,914,141
Diluted		60,146,501		59,717,636
Basic earnings per share
From continuing operations	$	1.48	$	2.35
Net income applicable to common stock	$	1.48	$	2.35
Diluted earnings per share
From continuing operations	$	1.47	$	2.34
Net income applicable to common stock	$	1.47	$	2.34
Cash dividends paid per share of common stock	$	0.675	$	0.675

CLECO CORPORATION CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Thousands) (UNAUDITED)
	At Sept. 30, 2008			At December 31, 2007
Assets
Current Assets
Cash and cash equivalents	$	77,392		$	129,013
Accounts receivable, net		100,990			87,983
Other current assets		228,779			188,520
Total Current Assets		407,161			405,516
Property, plant and equipment, net		1,982,008			1,725,880
Equity investment in investees		257,613			258,101
Prepayments, deferred charges and other		449,039			317,126
Total Assets	$	3,095,821		$	2,706,623
Liabilities
Current Liabilities
Long-term debt due within one year	$	63,546		$	100,000
Accounts payable		166,143			129,946
Other current liabilities		133,763			127,521
Total Current Liabilities		363,452			357,467
Deferred credits and other liabilities		677,915			568,684
Long-term debt, net		992,869			769,103
Total Liabilities		2,034,236			1,695,254
Shareholders’ Equity
Preferred stock		1,029			1,029
Common shareholders’ equity		1,069,176			1,018,731
Accumulated other comprehensive loss		(8,620	)		(8,391	)
Total Shareholders’ Equity		1,061,585			1,011,369
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity	$	3,095,821		$	2,706,623

Please note: In addition to historical financial information, this news release contains forward-looking statements about future results and circumstances, including, without limitation, statements regarding the Rodemacher Unit 3 project and earnings guidance. There are many risks and uncertainties with respect to such forward-looking statements, including the weather and other natural phenomena, state and federal legislative and regulatory initiatives, the timing and extent of changes in commodity prices and interest rates, the operating performance of Cleco Power’s and Cleco Midstream’s facilities, the financial condition of the company’s tolling agreement counterparty, the performance of the tolling agreement by such counterparty, construction and operational startup of Rodemacher Unit 3, the continuation of the existing rate plan, the outcome of Cleco Power’s rate case, the results of Cleco Power’s long-term RFP, the implementation of the south Louisiana joint transmission project, the impact of the global financial and credit crisis, and other risks and uncertainties more fully described in the company’s latest Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated in such forward-looking statements.

	Cleco Corporation
	2030 Donahue Ferry Road
	PO Box 5000
	Pineville, LA 71361-5000
	Tel 318 484-7400
	www.cleco.com

	NEWS RELEASE

Investor Contacts:		Media Contact:
Cleco Corporation:		Cleco Corporation:
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(318) 484-7724		(318)484-7467
Rodney Hamilton
(318) 484-7593