Cleco Group LLC, a Pineville-based electric utility serving nearly 300,000 customers across Louisiana, is set to be acquired by infrastructure investment firm Stonepeak and Bernhard Capital Partners under a newly announced agreement.
The transaction will transfer ownership from a consortium that includes Macquarie Asset Management, British Columbia Investment Management Corporation and Manulife Investment Management. Upon completion, Stonepeak will hold the majority interest in the company.
Cleco, which employs approximately 1,200 workers, will remain headquartered in Pineville and continue operating as a regulated utility under the Louisiana Public Service Commission. Company officials said there are no planned changes to staffing levels, compensation or benefits, and operations will continue across its existing 24-parish service area.
The company will maintain its focus on reliability and infrastructure improvements, supported by new investment partners with access to capital and experience in energy and infrastructure sectors. Over the past decade, Cleco has invested about $3 billion in system upgrades and resiliency projects, including a major grid hardening initiative approved by regulators in 2025.
Officials said the acquisition is expected to strengthen Cleco’s role as a key energy provider and economic driver in Louisiana, while supporting continued modernization and future growth.
The transaction remains subject to regulatory approvals before it can be finalized.
The following arrests were made by local law enforcement officers from Apr. 6 through Apr. 19.
This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Stabbing suspect Ladrakus Goudeau. (Photo courtesy of Bunkie Police Department)
Update: Ladrakus Goudeau turned himself in to authorities at the Bunkie Police Department on Friday, April 17, at approximately 12pm. Goudeau was wanted as a suspect with an altercation involving a stabbing that occurred on April 6, 2026, at the Augustine Apartments Complex.
Goudeau surrendered to authorities without incident. He was taken into custody and transported to the Avoyelles Parish Detention Center #1. Goudeau has been charged with the following offenses:
Aggravated Second Degree Battery
Attempted Second Degree Murder
Disturbing the Peace
Disclaimer: All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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The Bunkie Police Department received several calls regarding a fight in progress at 702 East Church Street, being the Augustine Apartment Complex, around 7:33pm on Monday, April 6. Officers quickly responded to the scene and discovered a male victim that had sustained a stab would to his leg. Bunkie Fire & Rescue and Acadian Ambulance arrived swiftly on scene and treated the victim, then transported him to a local hospital. At the time of this press release, the male victim is still in medical care and is currently stable.
The initial investigation presented evidence that the suspect, Ladrakus Goudeau (pictured above) is the alleged primary suspect responsible for the altercation and stabbing of the victim. An arrest warrant has been signed and issued for the arrest of Ladrakus Goudeau. Bunkie PD is asking the public for any information regarding the whereabouts of Mr. Goudeau; contact the Bunkie Police Department. Tipsters may remain anonymous.
The Avoyelles Communication Center received a 911 call reporting a shooting in progress on Tuesday, April 14, at approximately 2:19am. Responding APSO deputies, along with assisting officers from the Marksville Police Department and the Tunica Biloxi Police Department, were quickly dispatched to the 700 block of Gum Ridge Road in Marksville.
Upon arrival, Law Enforcement Officers secured the scene for medical personnel and rendered aid to a female victim who sustained multiple gunshot wounds. Acadian Ambulance arrived on the scene and later transported the victim to a local hospital for treatment.
The APSO Criminal Investigations Unit was assigned to the scene to investigate the incident. Through their efforts and the coordination of patrol personnel and assisting agencies, the suspect – identified as Justin James Thomas (Black/Male, DOB: 06/07/2006) – was located at a residence on Alvin Ford Lane in Marksville. After a short time of negotiations with the suspect, the suspect surrendered himself to deputies and was taken into custody without further incident.
Mr. Thomas was booked into APSO DC-1 on the following felony charges:
(Attempt) Second Degree Murder
Aggravated Second Degree Battery (Domestic)
Illegal Use of Weapons or Dangerous Instrumentalities
Possession of Firearm or Carrying Concealed Weapon by a Person Convicted of Certain Felonies
His bond has been set at $350,000. Louisiana Probation and Parole was notified.
Sheriff David L. Dauzat thanked partnering agencies and deputies who work daily as a team in keeping the parish safe.
Avoyelles Parish is looking at clouds and thunderstorms in the coming week. Temps remain in the 80s. Friday will see a 70% chance of rain – the highest chance for rain in the forecast period.
Wednesday, April 22
Wednesday will feature mostly cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy in the afternoon. The high will be 81°F and the overnight low will be 60°F. Night skies will partly cloudy, with winds light and variable.
Thursday, April 23
Thursday will see partly cloudy skies during the morning hours before becoming overcast in the afternoon. The high will be 83°F. Nighttime temperatures will be 64°F. The night will be mainly cloudy with winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.
Friday, April 24
Scattered thunderstorms in the morning followed by mainly cloudy skies during the afternoon with thunderstorms likely – chance of rain will be 70%. The day’s high will be 84°F. Overnight skies will be variably cloudy with scattered thunderstorms – chance of rain 50% – and a low of 66°F and winds S at 10 to 15 mph.
Saturday, April 25
Saturday will feature variable clouds with scattered thunderstorms with a 60% chance for rain. The high will be 82°F. MOving into the evening, Saturday will see scattered thunderstorms, especially overnight, likewise with a 60% chance of rain, and a low of 58°F.
Sunday, April 26
Variable clouds with thunderstorms, especially in the morning, for Sunday with a 50% chance of rain. The high will be 80°F. Nighttime skies will feature considerable cloudiness with occasional rain showers with a 40% chance of rain. The low will be around 58°F with winds light and variable.
Monday, April 27
Monday’s skies will feature rain showers in the morning with scattered thunderstorms arriving in the afternoon – chance of rain will be 40%. The high will be 81°F and lows around 61°F. Nighttime weather will feature mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms during the evening – chance of rain will be 40%.
Tuesday, April 28
Tuesday will get scattered showers and thunderstorms – chance of rain 40% – with a high of 84°F. Tuesday night will see partly cloudy skies early with scattered thunderstorms developing later at night; chance of rain will be 50%. Overnight lows will be 63°F with winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
Forecast Summary
Avoyelles Parish starts this forecast window with temperatures in the 80s where they will stay. The whole period will see lots of thunderstorms and scattered showers with the greatest chance of rain occurring Friday with a 70% chance of rain.
Day temps will stay in the 80s throughout the period.
Showers and thunderstorms persist through most of the forecast, with the greatest chance of rain (70%) on Friday.
None of the rainy weather is forecasted to be severe.
Showers, thunderstorms, and rain will be the operative weather for this period.
Mayor Brenda C. Sampson and the Bunkie City Council launched “Operation Blight Fight” shortly after taking office in July 2022 with a clear mission: to eliminate the many dangerous, unsightly, and property-devaluing abandoned structures scattered throughout the city’s neighborhoods.
Through the continued collaboration between city officials and property owners, more than forty (40) of these structures have already been successfully removed.
In what stands as the initiative’s most significant milestone to date, bids were officially awarded on Thursday, April 8, 2026, for the demolition of 23 additional dilapidated/abandoned structures. This major step forward is made possible through a $250,000 grant secured by the city, with demolition work set to begin in the coming weeks.
Mayor Sampson and the Bunkie City Council extend their sincere appreciation to Pan American Engineers for their dedication and expertise in bringing this project—nearly four years in the making—to fruition.
Residents are urged to exercise caution around the identified demolition sites as work gets underway in the near future.
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Dilapidated/Abandoned Structures Slated for Demolition:
A rusted and overgrown pump jack sits abandoned, a scene playing out thousands of times across the state as orphaned oil and gas wells outpace the ability to plug them.
By Richard Searles, Journal Contributor
State faces record 6,465 orphaned wells, a cleanup bill that could top $1 billion, and a broken oversight system
Louisiana’s oil patch is leaving behind a growing legacy of abandoned wells that leak, contaminate groundwater and cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars — and on a per capita basis, the state’s problem is more than four times worse than Texas, which has drawn national attention for the same issue.
As of March 2025, Louisiana has 6,465 orphaned oil and gas wells — unplugged, abandoned sites with no responsible operator — according to the state Department of Conservation and Energy. Texas has approximately 10,029 orphaned wells, according to its Railroad Commission. But Texas has nearly seven times Louisiana’s population. Louisiana has roughly one orphaned well for every 711 residents. Texas has one for every 3,130. Louisiana’s per capita burden is more than four times heavier.
The Numbers Are Accelerating
Between 2014 and 2023, the Louisiana Legislative Auditor found that an average of about 445 wells were added to the orphaned list each year. In 2025, more than 1,600 wells were added — more than three times the historical annual average. In just the first months of 2026, another 517 wells have already been added.
Behind those orphaned wells sits an even larger problem: inactive wells not yet orphaned but at risk. The Legislative Auditor found the inactive well count climbed 21.7 percent from 2019 to 2024, reaching 21,629 statewide.
What It Will Cost — and Why the Numbers Differ
The cleanup bill has been reported in different ways, and understanding why requires a distinction between two categories of problem wells.
The first is the orphaned well count itself — the 6,500 wells with no responsible operator. The Louisiana Legislative Auditor places the average plugging cost at $113,000 per well. Multiplied across the current orphaned well list, that produces the widely cited $730 million figure.
But that number covers only orphaned wells. A July 2025 white paper from the LSU Center for Energy Studies, commissioned by the state, calculated that plugging and abandoning both orphaned and idle wells in just the Monroe and Shreveport regulatory districts — two of Louisiana’s three oil and gas districts — would cost approximately $860 million. The Lafayette district, which holds roughly 41 percent of the state’s total orphaned and idle well inventory, was not included in that estimate. When all three districts and all idle wells are accounted for, the total cost to Louisiana taxpayers could well exceed $1 billion.
Since 2023, the state has plugged just 490 orphaned wells at a combined cost of nearly $90 million in state and federal funds — far behind the pace needed to make meaningful progress.
The Oversight System Failed
Louisiana’s attempt to manage the problem through a private industry-led entity collapsed. The Louisiana Oilfield Restoration Association, created in 2019 to collect operator fees and fund plugging activity, was dissolved after a state audit found it falling far behind — and after allegations of self-dealing that included a $780,000 loan to a state official. An audit also found the association’s administrative partner was charging a 36 percent fee on revenues, nearly double the agreed cap. During fiscal years 2020 through 2023, the state plugged 976 orphaned wells through the program. During that same period, nearly 1,700 new orphaned wells were reported — meaning the system was losing ground even while operating.
The Louisiana Legislature responded in 2024 by creating the Natural Resources Trust Authority under the Department of Conservation and Energy, tasked with rebuilding oversight and funding. Financial security requirements — the bonds operators must post to cover future plugging costs — remain a structural weakness. Though coverage rose from 25 percent of wells in 2014 to 74 percent by 2024, the Legislative Auditor found the amounts collected still fall well short of actual plugging costs.
The Bottom Line
Louisiana is producing new orphaned wells faster than it can plug old ones, carrying a per capita orphaned well burden more than four times that of Texas, and facing a total cleanup bill that state and university researchers suggest could exceed $1 billion when all idle and orphaned wells statewide are fully accounted for. The consequences — contaminated groundwater, leaking methane, degraded land — fall most heavily on the rural communities where these wells are concentrated.
Sources: Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy; Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s Office; LSU Center for Energy Studies, “Orphan and Idle Wells in Louisiana,” July 2025; Texas Railroad Commission; Louisiana Illuminator.
The Town of Cottonport has posted notice of a Special Election on May 16 from 6am to 8pm at the polling place located at 938 Bryan Street in Cottonport.
The proposition under consideration is “Shall the Mayor of the Town of Cottonport, with the approval of the Cottonport Town Council, be authorized to appoint a marshal who is the Chief of Police for the Town of Cottonport?”
For more information, see the full Special Election Notice below.
The Avoyelles Retired Teachers Association will hold its spring meeting at 10 a.m. Wednesday, April 29, 2026, at the Marksville Main Branch Meeting Room of the Avoyelles Parish Library, located at 660 N. Main Street.
Registration will begin at 9:30 a.m. The program will feature a representative from Subterra Technologies discussing artificial intelligence and practical AI tools for retirees and seniors. The meeting will also include officer elections.
A complimentary lunch sponsored by Subterra Technologies will be provided. Attendees are asked to confirm their participation by emailing michroy@bellsouth.net.
Members are encouraged to bring two non-perishable food items to donate to a local food bank. Current members are also invited to bring a fellow retired teacher interested in joining, with additional activities including informational updates and door prizes planned.
Join the Avoyelles Parish LSU AgCenter for a Lawncare Workshop at the Avoyelles Parish Extension Office.
The workshop will cover lawn maintenance looking at the most common warm season turfgrasses, common lawn pests, equipment best management practices, and how-to demonstrations with Dr. Eric DeBoer, the state turfgrass specialist.
