Litigation, Other Commitments and Contingencies, and Disclosures about Guarantees, Long-Term Purchase Obligations (Details) - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Cleco Power [Member] | Purchase of coal, petroleum coke, limestone, entergy capacity and energy delivery facilities [Member]
Unrecorded Unconditional Purchase Obligation [Line Items]
Payments under long-term purchase obligations	$ 47,000,000	$ 72,900,000	$ 89,700,000
Unrecorded Unconditional Purchase Obligation, Fiscal Year Maturity [Abstract]
2018	42,760,000
2019	28,723,000
2020	6,985,000
2021	1,889,000
2022	382,000
Thereafter	1,428,000
Total long-term purchase obligations	82,167,000
Cleco Holdings [Member]
Unrecorded Unconditional Purchase Obligation, Fiscal Year Maturity [Abstract]
Total long-term purchase obligations	$ 0