Pension Plan and Employee Benefits, SERP (Details) - SERP Benefits [Member] - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2015	Sep. 30, 2014	Sep. 30, 2015	Sep. 30, 2014	Dec. 31, 2014
Components of periodic benefit costs [Abstract]
Service cost	$ 676	$ 570	$ 2,029	$ 1,708
Interest cost	764	757	2,292	2,271
Prior period service cost	14	13	40	40
Net loss	743	469	2,230	1,407
Net periodic benefit cost	2,197	1,809	6,591	5,426
Current portion of SERP liability	2,990		2,990		$ 3,031
Noncurrent portion of SERP liability	73,074		73,074		70,871
Cleco Power [Member]
Components of periodic benefit costs [Abstract]
Net periodic benefit cost	600	$ 400	1,700	$ 1,300
Current portion of SERP liability	949		949		813
Noncurrent portion of SERP liability	$ 19,242		$ 19,242		$ 19,006