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
	Sep. 29, 2016	Jun. 30, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2014	Nov. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($) plaintiff	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Jun. 24, 2016 petition
Litigation [Abstract]
Loss Contingency, Estimate of Possible Loss							$ 6,800
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
Cleco Power [Member]
Litigation [Abstract]
Provision for rate refund			$ 2,696				3,201	$ 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]
Number of petitions filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals | petition										6
Cost of Services, Environmental Remediation									$ 81,200
FERC [Member] | MISO Transmission Rates [Member]
Litigation [Abstract]
Public Utilities, Approved Return on Equity, Percentage (In hundredths)	10.32%					12.38%
Public Utilities, Proposed Return on Equity, Percentage (in hundredths)		9.70%	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							$ 2,600
Pending Litigation [Member] | Petition for breach of fiduciary duties in proposed merger [Member]
Litigation [Line Items]
Loss Contingency, Number of Plaintiffs | plaintiff							6
Financial Guarantee [Member] | Cleco Power [Member]
Litigation [Line Items]
Guarantor Obligations, Maximum Exposure, Undiscounted							$ 106,500