Income Taxes, Net Operating Losses & Uncertain Tax Positions (Details) - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Operating Loss Carryforwards [Line Items]
Liability for Uncertainty in Income Taxes, Noncurrent		$ 0
Net Operating Losses [Abstract]
Unrecognized Tax Benefits, Interest payable	$ 0	0
Unrecognized Tax Benefits, Interest Expense	0	0	$ 0
Reconciliation of Unrecognized Tax Benefits, Excluding Amounts Pertaining to Examined Tax Returns [Roll Forward]
Liability for Unrecognized Tax Benefits, Beginning	0
Liability for Unrecognized Tax Benefits, Ending		0
Unrecognized Tax Benefits, Income Tax Penalties Expense	0	0	0
Federal [Member]
Net Operating Losses [Abstract]
Net operating loss carryforwards	0
State [Member]
Net Operating Losses [Abstract]
Net operating loss carryforwards	81,700,000
Cleco Power [Member]
Net Operating Losses [Abstract]
Unrecognized Tax Benefits, Interest payable	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0