Coughlin Transfer (Details) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012 MW	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Mar. 15, 2014 USD ($)
Related Party [Line Items]
Net book value		$ 3,104,097	$ 3,066,000
Cleco Power [Member]
Related Party [Line Items]
Long-term Request for Proposal of Electric Power to meet long-term capacity (MW) | MW	800
Net book value		$ 3,099,085	$ 3,062,284
Transfer of Coughlin from affiliate [Member] | Evangeline [Member] | Cleco Power [Member]
Related Party [Line Items]
Net book value				$ 176,000