Leases

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2021

Leases [Abstract]

Leases

Note 3 — Leases

Cleco maintains operating and finance leases in its ordinary course of business activities.

Cottonwood Sale Leaseback Agreement

Upon closing the Cleco Cajun Transaction, the Cottonwood Sale Leaseback was executed. Under the terms of the lease,

NRG Energy will operate the Cottonwood Plant, incur all costs, and receive all revenues from the operations of the plant. Cottonwood Energy will receive fixed lease payments of $40.0 million per year and variable lease payments for LTSA costs and property taxes paid by NRG Energy on behalf of Cleco. Cleco may terminate the lease contract under specific circumstances stated in the lease contract. The residual value under the Cottonwood Sale Leaseback is expected to be recovered through sales of power generation from the plant. The residual value of the Cottonwood Plant has been determined using the plant’s estimated economic life.

Cleco Cajun is Cleco’s only entity with lessor arrangements. Cleco Cajun’s lease income under the Cottonwood Sale Leaseback is included in Other operations within Cleco’s Condensed Consolidated Statement of Income. Cleco Cajun’s lease income under the Cottonwood Sale Leaseback for the three months ended March 31, 2021, and 2020, was as follows:

	FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED MAR. 31,
(THOUSANDS)	2021		2020
Fixed payments	$	10,000	$	10,000
Variable payments	5,465		5,566
Amortization of deferred lease liability*	2,301		2,302
Total lease income	$	17,766	$	17,868

* Consists of amortization of the deferred lease revenue resulting from the fair value of the lease between Cottonwood Energy and a special-purpose entity that is a subsidiary of NRG Energy.

Leases

Note 3 — Leases

Cleco maintains operating and finance leases in its ordinary course of business activities.

Cottonwood Sale Leaseback Agreement

Upon closing the Cleco Cajun Transaction, the Cottonwood Sale Leaseback was executed. Under the terms of the lease,

NRG Energy will operate the Cottonwood Plant, incur all costs, and receive all revenues from the operations of the plant. Cottonwood Energy will receive fixed lease payments of $40.0 million per year and variable lease payments for LTSA costs and property taxes paid by NRG Energy on behalf of Cleco. Cleco may terminate the lease contract under specific circumstances stated in the lease contract. The residual value under the Cottonwood Sale Leaseback is expected to be recovered through sales of power generation from the plant. The residual value of the Cottonwood Plant has been determined using the plant’s estimated economic life.

Cleco Cajun is Cleco’s only entity with lessor arrangements. Cleco Cajun’s lease income under the Cottonwood Sale Leaseback is included in Other operations within Cleco’s Condensed Consolidated Statement of Income. Cleco Cajun’s lease income under the Cottonwood Sale Leaseback for the three months ended March 31, 2021, and 2020, was as follows:

	FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED MAR. 31,
(THOUSANDS)	2021		2020
Fixed payments	$	10,000	$	10,000
Variable payments	5,465		5,566
Amortization of deferred lease liability*	2,301		2,302
Total lease income	$	17,766	$	17,868

* Consists of amortization of the deferred lease revenue resulting from the fair value of the lease between Cottonwood Energy and a special-purpose entity that is a subsidiary of NRG Energy.

Leases

Note 3 — Leases

Cleco maintains operating and finance leases in its ordinary course of business activities.

Cottonwood Sale Leaseback Agreement

Upon closing the Cleco Cajun Transaction, the Cottonwood Sale Leaseback was executed. Under the terms of the lease,

NRG Energy will operate the Cottonwood Plant, incur all costs, and receive all revenues from the operations of the plant. Cottonwood Energy will receive fixed lease payments of $40.0 million per year and variable lease payments for LTSA costs and property taxes paid by NRG Energy on behalf of Cleco. Cleco may terminate the lease contract under specific circumstances stated in the lease contract. The residual value under the Cottonwood Sale Leaseback is expected to be recovered through sales of power generation from the plant. The residual value of the Cottonwood Plant has been determined using the plant’s estimated economic life.

Cleco Cajun is Cleco’s only entity with lessor arrangements. Cleco Cajun’s lease income under the Cottonwood Sale Leaseback is included in Other operations within Cleco’s Condensed Consolidated Statement of Income. Cleco Cajun’s lease income under the Cottonwood Sale Leaseback for the three months ended March 31, 2021, and 2020, was as follows:

	FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED MAR. 31,
(THOUSANDS)	2021		2020
Fixed payments	$	10,000	$	10,000
Variable payments	5,465		5,566
Amortization of deferred lease liability*	2,301		2,302
Total lease income	$	17,766	$	17,868

* Consists of amortization of the deferred lease revenue resulting from the fair value of the lease between Cottonwood Energy and a special-purpose entity that is a subsidiary of NRG Energy.