By JIM BUTLER

Cleco seeks PSC approval to bill its 295,000 customers for about $315,000,000 in costs associated with closing the Dolet Hills Power Station in 2021 and the two lignite mines serving it.

The “securization” proposal was filed this month, on the heels in April of the PSC accepting a plan for the Pineville-based utility to refund customers a total of $20 million a year in June, July and August of 2024, 2025 and 2026.

That was based on Cleco and its Dolet partner, SWEPCO, settling claims that it incorrectly billed fuel costs as the closing of the DeSoto Parish plant approached.

Authority to securitize and ask the PSC to order customers to pay securitized debt was granted by the Legislature last year, a stroke of clairvoyance perhaps generated by alert lobbying.

The new filing forecasts a net monthly “Energy Transition Charge” of $3.16 monthly for a 1,000 KWH bill until the bond debt is retired.

When the utilities, faced with changing market and environmental conditions, decided to close the 35-year-old plant the estimated customer savings when renewable resources are fully on line was $60 million a year.