Litigation, Other Commitments and Contingencies, and Disclosures about Guarantees, Litigation (Details) $ in Thousands	1 Months Ended				3 Months Ended	24 Months Ended	62 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2014	Nov. 30, 2013	Mar. 31, 2016 USD ($) plaintiff	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)
Litigation [Abstract]
Provision for rate refund	$ 2,696				$ 3,017	$ 2,696	$ 2,696
Gulf Coast Spinning start up costs [Member]
Litigation [Line Items]
Allegations by plaintiff, failure to perform		$ 6,500
Gulf Coast Spinning construction of cotton spinning facility [Member]
Litigation [Line Items]
Allegations by plaintiff, failure to perform		$ 60,000
Other Litigation Matters [Member]
Litigation [Abstract]
Loss Contingency, Estimate of Possible Loss					5,000
Cleco Power [Member]
Litigation [Abstract]
Provision for rate refund	$ 2,696				3,017	2,696	2,696
LPSC 2014-2015 Fuel Audit [Member] | Cleco Power [Member]
Litigation [Abstract]
Fuel Costs						$ 582,600
LPSC Nov2010-Dec2015 EAC audit [Member] | Cleco Power [Member]
Litigation [Abstract]
Cost of Services, Environmental Remediation							$ 81,200
FERC [Member] | MISO Transmission Rates [Member]
Litigation [Abstract]
Public Utilities, Approved Return on Equity, Percentage (In hundredths)				12.38%
Public Utilities, Proposed Return on Equity, Percentage (in hundredths)	10.32%			6.68%
Public Utilities, Requested rate increase (decrease), Percentage (in hundredths)			0.50%
FERC [Member] | Transmission Return on Equity [Member] | Cleco Power [Member]
Litigation [Abstract]
Provision for rate refund					$ 2,800
Pending Litigation [Member] | Petition for breach of fiduciary duties in proposed merger [Member]
Litigation [Line Items]
Loss Contingency, Number of Plaintiffs | plaintiff					6