Jointly Owned Generation Units (Details) - Cleco Power [Member] $ in Thousands	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) MW
Jointly Owned Utility Plant Interests [Line Items]
Utility plant in service	$ 532,810
Accumulated depreciation	289,420
Construction work in progress	$ 2,223
Nameplate capacity (MW) \| MW	3,333
Rodemacher Unit #2 [Member]
Jointly Owned Utility Plant Interests [Line Items]
Utility plant in service	$ 142,648
Accumulated depreciation	73,591
Construction work in progress	$ 148
Ownership interest percentage (in hundredths)	30.00%
Nameplate capacity (MW) \| MW	523
Ownership interest (MW) \| MW	157
Dolet Hills [Member]
Jointly Owned Utility Plant Interests [Line Items]
Utility plant in service	$ 390,162
Accumulated depreciation	215,829
Construction work in progress	$ 2,075
Ownership interest percentage (in hundredths)	50.00%
Nameplate capacity (MW) \| MW	650
Ownership interest (MW) \| MW	325

The entity's ownership interest in the generation unit's name plate capacity (in megawatts).

No definition available.

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Namespace Prefix:	cnl_
Data Type:	num:powerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The capacity (in megawatts) of the jointly owned generation unit.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	cnl_NamePlateCapacityOfGenerationUnit
Namespace Prefix:	cnl_
Data Type:	num:powerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The period end amount owned by the reporting utility of a jointly owned utility plant in service.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 980
-SubTopic 360
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SAB TOPIC 10.C)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6500719&loc=d3e659983-123033

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher SEC
-Name Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB)
-Number Topic 10
-Section C

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The period end amount of construction work in progress at a jointly owned electricity generation plant.

+ References

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The period end amount of accumulated depreciation in a jointly owned electricity generation plant.

+ References

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The proportionate share of interest (percent) in a jointly owned utility plant.

+ References

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Details

Name:	dei_LegalEntityAxis=us-gaap_SubsidiariesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_JointlyOwnedUtilityPlantAxis=cnl_RodemacherUnitTwoMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_JointlyOwnedUtilityPlantAxis=cnl_DoletHillsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: