Affiliate Transactions (Details) - Cleco Power [Member] - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Mar. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Accounts receivable - affiliate	$ 782	$ 1,908
Accounts payable - affiliate	7,613	6,598
Cleco Holdings [Member]
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Accounts receivable - affiliate	89	653
Accounts payable - affiliate	664	564
Support Group [Member]
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Accounts receivable - affiliate	692	1,254
Accounts payable - affiliate	6,949	6,034
Other [Member]
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Accounts receivable - affiliate	1	1
Accounts payable - affiliate	$ 0	$ 0