Cash contributed to the investee accounted for as an equity method investment, from inception to date.

No definition available.

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Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Percentage of the Variable Interest Entity's (VIE) voting interest owned by other parties.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

This element represents the aggregate cost of investments accounted for under the equity method of accounting.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.12)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

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Period Type:	instant

- References

No definition available.

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- References

No definition available.

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Balance Type:	na
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- Definition

The amount of the cost of sales reported by an equity method investment of the entity.

+ References

+ Details

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

- Definition

Amount of equity, excluding noncontrolling interest, attributable to the equity method investment of the entity.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 323
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
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-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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+ Details

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

- Definition

The amount of gross profit (loss) reported by an equity method investment of the entity.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 205
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 7
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64827811&loc=SL51721683-107760

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Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The amount of revenue from sale of goods and services reduced by sales returns, allowances, and discounts reported by an equity method investment of the entity.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_EquityMethodInvestmentSummarizedFinancialInformationRevenue
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Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

This item represents the carrying amount on the entity's balance sheet of its investment in common stock of an equity method investee. This is not an indicator of the fair value of the investment, rather it is the initial cost adjusted for the entity's share of earnings and losses of the investee, adjusted for any distributions (dividends) and other than temporary impairment (OTTI) losses recognized.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 323
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
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Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
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-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.12)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

+ Details

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Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The cash outflow associated with the purchase of or advances to an equity method investments, which are investments in joint ventures and entities in which the entity has an equity ownership interest normally of 20 to 50 percent and exercises significant influence.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 13
-Subparagraph (b)
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Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The reporting entity's maximum amount of exposure to loss as a result of its involvement with the Variable Interest Entity (VIE).

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 810
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 4
-Subparagraph b
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-Subparagraph (c)
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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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- Definition

Net carrying amount of the assets and liabilities in the reporting entity's statement of financial position that relate to the reporting entity's variable interest in the Variable Interest Entity (VIE), when the reporting entity is not the VIE's primary beneficiary.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
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Period Type:	instant

- References

No definition available.

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Balance Type:	na
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- Definition

Percentage of the Variable Interest Entity's (VIE) voting interest owned by (or beneficial interest in) the reporting entity (directly or indirectly).

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 810
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 5A
-Subparagraph (d)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64801991&loc=SL6759159-111685

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Variable Interest Entities (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2015	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2015	Dec. 31, 2015
Equity Method Investment, Summarized Financial Information [Abstract]
Operating revenue	$ 1,034	$ 942	$ 4,661	$ 2,656
Operating expenses	1,034	942	4,661	2,656
Income before taxes	0	$ 0	0	0
Cleco Power [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Equity investment in investee	19,272		19,272		$ 16,822
Cash contributions to Oxbow			2,450	$ 1,840
Components of equity method investments [Abstract]
Purchase price	12,873		12,873		12,873
Cash contributions	6,399		6,399		3,949
Total equity investment in investee	19,272		19,272		16,822
Equity Method Investment, Summarized Financial Information [Abstract]
Partners' capital	38,544		$ 38,544		33,645
Oxbow [Member] \| Cleco Power [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Ownership percentage by Cleco Power (in hundredths)			50.00%
Ownership percentage by other parties (in hundredths)			50.00%
Comparison of carrying amount of assets and liabilities to maximum loss exposure [Abstract]
Cleco Power’s 50% equity	19,272		$ 19,272		16,822
Cleco Power’s maximum exposure to loss	$ 19,272		$ 19,272		$ 16,822