Pineville passes resolution to protect Cenla electric service jobs

PINEVILLE, La. (KALB) - The City of Pineville is officially urging the protection of jobs maintained by Cleco.

This comes following the advancement of House Concurrent Resolution 11 in the State Legislature, which urges the Louisiana Public Service Commission to only approve the sale of Cleco under “certain circumstances.”

During a city council meeting on May 13, council members voted to approve a resolution mimicking a similar message, a call for the protection of Cenla jobs by not approving the sale of the utility.

Randy O’Neal, City Councilman for District 1, said, “We are kind of piggybacking and supporting State Representative Mike Johnson, what he is working for, in the event that Cleco is possibly sold. We want to make sure that the employees who are here at home in Pineville and the Cenla area…we want to make sure their jobs are secure.”

Tom Bouchie, City Councilman for District 4, shared, “It’s important, and you never want to lose business, not only locally, but on the state level. So, if we can try to do anything to maintain the jobs that are here and get them thinking about how important it is that they stay here, or whoever buys them, or the Public Service Commission, who actually put that into a requirement in the last sale, that they had to maintain a certain number of jobs, maintain them for at least ten years before anything else was done.”

The city’s resolution passed unanimously.

RELATED: La. House resolution aims to protect Cenla electric service jobs

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