Fair Value Accounting, Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures(Details)	3 Months Ended			6 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($) $ / MW	Apr. 12, 2016 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($) $ / MW	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($) $ / MW	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) $ / MW
Fair Value, Net Derivative Asset (Liability) Measured on Recurring Basis, Unobservable Input Reconciliation [Roll Forward]
Concentration of Risk, Cash and Cash Equivalents	$ 78,200,000			$ 78,200,000	$ 78,200,000
Transfers between fair value levels	$ 0			$ 0	$ 0		$ 0
Cleco Power [Member]
Fair Value, Net Derivative Asset (Liability) Measured on Recurring Basis, Unobservable Input Reconciliation [Roll Forward]
FTRs Forward Price High | $ / MW	5.03			5.03	5.03		4.51
FTR Forward Price Low | $ / MW	(2.34)			(2.34)	(2.34)		(3.63)
Concentration of Risk, Cash and Cash Equivalents	$ 52,400,000			$ 52,400,000	$ 52,400,000
FTRs [Member] | Cleco Power [Member]
Fair Value, Net Derivative Asset (Liability) Measured on Recurring Basis, Unobservable Input Reconciliation [Roll Forward]
Beginning fair value of FTR assets (liabilities), net	13,618,000	$ 7,398,000	$ 21,974,000		7,398,000	$ 9,949,000
Unrealized gains (losses)	1,840,000		(719,000)		1,498,000	1,053,000
Purchases	164,000		69,000		14,842,000	20,219,000
Settlements	(6,046,000)		(7,249,000)		(14,162,000)	(17,146,000)
Ending fair value of FTR assets (liabilities), net	9,576,000		14,075,000	9,576,000	9,576,000	14,075,000
Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member] | Cleco Power [Member]
Asset Description [Abstract]
Institutional money market funds	106,861,000			106,861,000	106,861,000		$ 87,363,000
FTR assets	9,994,000			9,994,000	9,994,000		7,673,000
Total Assets	116,855,000			116,855,000	116,855,000		95,036,000
Liability Description [Abstract]
Long-term debt	1,461,566,000			1,461,566,000	1,461,566,000		1,429,989,000
FTR liabilities	418,000			418,000	418,000		275,000
Total Liabilities	1,461,984,000			1,461,984,000	1,461,984,000		1,430,264,000
Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member] | Cleco Power [Member] | Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1) [Member]
Asset Description [Abstract]
Institutional money market funds	0			0	0		0
FTR assets	0			0	0		0
Total Assets	0			0	0		0
Liability Description [Abstract]
Long-term debt	0			0	0		0
FTR liabilities	0			0	0		0
Total Liabilities	0			0	0		0
Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member] | Cleco Power [Member] | Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2) [Member]
Asset Description [Abstract]
Institutional money market funds	106,861,000			106,861,000	106,861,000		87,363,000
FTR assets	0			0	0		0
Total Assets	106,861,000			106,861,000	106,861,000		87,363,000
Liability Description [Abstract]
Long-term debt	1,461,566,000			1,461,566,000	1,461,566,000		1,429,989,000
FTR liabilities	0			0	0		0
Total Liabilities	1,461,566,000			1,461,566,000	1,461,566,000		1,429,989,000
Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member] | Cleco Power [Member] | Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3) [Member]
Asset Description [Abstract]
Institutional money market funds	0			0	0		0
FTR assets	9,994,000			9,994,000	9,994,000		7,673,000
Total Assets	9,994,000			9,994,000	9,994,000		7,673,000
Liability Description [Abstract]
Long-term debt	0			0	0		0
FTR liabilities	418,000			418,000	418,000		275,000
Total Liabilities	418,000			418,000	418,000		$ 275,000
Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents, Current [Member]
Fair Value, Net Derivative Asset (Liability) Measured on Recurring Basis, Unobservable Input Reconciliation [Roll Forward]
Concentrations of Credit Risk, non-current	31,700,000			31,700,000	31,700,000
Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents, Current [Member] | Cleco Power [Member]
Fair Value, Net Derivative Asset (Liability) Measured on Recurring Basis, Unobservable Input Reconciliation [Roll Forward]
Concentrations of Credit Risk, non-current	31,700,000			31,700,000	31,700,000
Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents, Noncurrent [Member]
Fair Value, Net Derivative Asset (Liability) Measured on Recurring Basis, Unobservable Input Reconciliation [Roll Forward]
Concentrations of Credit Risk, non-current	22,800,000			22,800,000	22,800,000
Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents, Noncurrent [Member] | Cleco Power [Member]
Fair Value, Net Derivative Asset (Liability) Measured on Recurring Basis, Unobservable Input Reconciliation [Roll Forward]
Concentrations of Credit Risk, non-current	$ 22,800,000			$ 22,800,000	$ 22,800,000
Successor [Member]
Fair Value, Net Derivative Asset (Liability) Measured on Recurring Basis, Unobservable Input Reconciliation [Roll Forward]
FTRs Forward Price High | $ / MW	5.03			5.03	5.03
FTR Forward Price Low | $ / MW	(2.34)			(2.34)	(2.34)
Successor [Member] | FTRs [Member]
Fair Value, Net Derivative Asset (Liability) Measured on Recurring Basis, Unobservable Input Reconciliation [Roll Forward]
Beginning fair value of FTR assets (liabilities), net	$ 13,618,000			$ 3,458,000
Unrealized gains (losses)	1,840,000			2,529,000
Purchases	164,000			12,772,000
Settlements	(6,046,000)			(9,183,000)
Ending fair value of FTR assets (liabilities), net	9,576,000	3,458,000		9,576,000	$ 9,576,000
Successor [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description [Abstract]
Institutional money market funds	132,682,000			132,682,000	132,682,000
FTR assets	9,994,000			9,994,000	9,994,000
Total Assets	142,676,000			142,676,000	142,676,000
Liability Description [Abstract]
Long-term debt	2,859,558,000			2,859,558,000	2,859,558,000
FTR liabilities	418,000			418,000	418,000
Total Liabilities	2,859,976,000			2,859,976,000	2,859,976,000
Successor [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member] | Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1) [Member]
Asset Description [Abstract]
Institutional money market funds	0			0	0
FTR assets	0			0	0
Total Assets	0			0	0
Liability Description [Abstract]
Long-term debt	0			0	0
FTR liabilities	0			0	0
Total Liabilities	0			0	0
Successor [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member] | Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2) [Member]
Asset Description [Abstract]
Institutional money market funds	132,682,000			132,682,000	132,682,000
FTR assets	0			0	0
Total Assets	132,682,000			132,682,000	132,682,000
Liability Description [Abstract]
Long-term debt	2,859,558,000			2,859,558,000	2,859,558,000
FTR liabilities	0			0	0
Total Liabilities	2,859,558,000			2,859,558,000	2,859,558,000
Successor [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member] | Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3) [Member]
Asset Description [Abstract]
Institutional money market funds	0			0	0
FTR assets	9,994,000			9,994,000	9,994,000
Total Assets	9,994,000			9,994,000	9,994,000
Liability Description [Abstract]
Long-term debt	0			0	0
FTR liabilities	418,000			418,000	418,000
Total Liabilities	$ 418,000			418,000	418,000
Predecessor [Member]
Fair Value, Net Derivative Asset (Liability) Measured on Recurring Basis, Unobservable Input Reconciliation [Roll Forward]
FTRs Forward Price High | $ / MW							4.51
FTR Forward Price Low | $ / MW							(3.63)
Predecessor [Member] | FTRs [Member]
Fair Value, Net Derivative Asset (Liability) Measured on Recurring Basis, Unobservable Input Reconciliation [Roll Forward]
Beginning fair value of FTR assets (liabilities), net		7,398,000	21,974,000	$ 3,458,000	$ 7,398,000	9,949,000
Unrealized gains (losses)		(1,031,000)	(719,000)			1,053,000
Purchases		2,070,000	69,000			20,219,000
Settlements		(4,979,000)	(7,249,000)			(17,146,000)
Ending fair value of FTR assets (liabilities), net		$ 3,458,000	$ 14,075,000			$ 14,075,000
Predecessor [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description [Abstract]
Institutional money market funds							$ 89,584,000
FTR assets							7,673,000
Total Assets							97,257,000
Liability Description [Abstract]
Long-term debt							1,463,989,000
FTR liabilities							275,000
Total Liabilities							1,464,264,000
Predecessor [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member] | Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1) [Member]
Asset Description [Abstract]
Institutional money market funds							0
FTR assets							0
Total Assets							0
Liability Description [Abstract]
Long-term debt							0
FTR liabilities							0
Total Liabilities							0
Predecessor [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member] | Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2) [Member]
Asset Description [Abstract]
Institutional money market funds							89,584,000
FTR assets							0
Total Assets							89,584,000
Liability Description [Abstract]
Long-term debt							1,463,989,000
FTR liabilities							0
Total Liabilities							1,463,989,000
Predecessor [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member] | Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3) [Member]
Asset Description [Abstract]
Institutional money market funds							0
FTR assets							7,673,000
Total Assets							7,673,000
Liability Description [Abstract]
Long-term debt							0
FTR liabilities							275,000
Total Liabilities							$ 275,000