Litigation, Other Commitments and Contingencies, and Disclosures about Guarantees, Off-Balance Sheet Commitments (Details) $ in Millions	Mar. 31, 2016 USD ($)
Performance Guarantee [Member]
Other Commitments [Line Items]
Guarantor Obligations, Maximum Exposure, Undiscounted	$ 42.4
Cleco Corp, Cleco Power, and/or Evangeline [Member] | Indemnification Agreement [Member]
Other Commitments [Line Items]
Guarantor Obligations, Maximum Exposure, Undiscounted	40.0
Cleco Corp, Cleco Power, and/or Evangeline [Member] | Indemnification Agreement INCLUDING fundamental organizational structure [Member]
Other Commitments [Line Items]
Guarantor Obligations, Maximum Exposure, Undiscounted	400.0
Cleco Power [Member] | Cleco Corp, Cleco Power, and/or Evangeline [Member] | Indemnification Agreement [Member]
Other Commitments [Line Items]
Guarantor Obligations, Maximum Exposure, Undiscounted	40.0
Cleco Power [Member] | Cleco Corp, Cleco Power, and/or Evangeline [Member] | Indemnification Agreement INCLUDING fundamental organizational structure [Member]
Other Commitments [Line Items]
Guarantor Obligations, Maximum Exposure, Undiscounted	$ 400.0