Pension Plan and Employee Benefits (Tables)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2018

Defined Benefit Plans and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans Table Text Block [Line Items]

Net Periodic Pension and Other Benefits Cost

Net periodic benefit cost related to SERP for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, and 2017 were as follows:

	FOR THE THREE MONTHS  ENDED SEPT. 30,						FOR THE NINE MONTHS ENDED SEPT. 30,
(THOUSANDS)	2018			2017			2018			2017
Components of periodic benefit costs
Service cost	$	136		$	123		$	407		$	370
Interest cost	769			810			2,296			2,430
Amortizations
Prior period service credit	(35		)	(57		)	(104		)	(124		)
Net loss	723			536			2,180			1,560
Net periodic benefit cost	1,593			1,412			4,779			4,236
Special/contractual termination benefits	—			—			—			315
Total benefit cost	$	1,593		$	1,412		$	4,779		$	4,551

Net periodic pension and Other Benefits cost for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, and 2017 were as follows:

	PENSION BENEFITS						OTHER BENEFITS
	FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED SEPT. 30,						FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED SEPT. 30,
(THOUSANDS)	2018			2017			2018		2017
Components of periodic benefit costs
Service cost	$	2,377		$	2,260		$	336	$	314
Interest cost	5,215			5,412			361		372
Expected return on plan assets	(5,943		)	(6,016		)	—		—
Amortizations
Prior period service credit	(18		)	(18		)	—		—
Net loss (gain)	3,078			2,502			96		(32		)
Net periodic benefit cost	$	4,709		$	4,140		$	793	$	654

	PENSION BENEFITS						OTHER BENEFITS
	FOR THE NINE MONTHS ENDED SEPT. 30,						FOR THE NINE MONTHS ENDED SEPT. 30,
(THOUSANDS)	2018			2017			2018		2017
Components of periodic benefit costs
Service cost	$	7,130		$	6,779		$	1,011	$	1,084
Interest cost	15,869			16,235			1,076		1,176
Expected return on plan assets	(17,818		)	(18,048		)	—		—
Amortizations
Prior period service credit	(53		)	(53		)	—		—
Net loss (gain)	8,998			7,506			105		(37		)
Net periodic benefit cost	$	14,126		$	12,419		$	2,192	$	2,223

Current and Non-Current Portions of Other Benefits Liability

The current and non-current portions of the SERP liability for Cleco and Cleco Power at September 30, 2018, and December 31, 2017, were as follows:

Cleco
(THOUSANDS)	AT SEPT. 30, 2018		AT DEC. 31, 2017
Current	$	4,471	$	4,471
Non-current	$	79,300	$	79,868

The current and non-current portions of the Other Benefits liability for Cleco and Cleco Power at September 30, 2018, and December 31, 2017, were as follows:

Cleco
(THOUSANDS)	AT SEPT. 30, 2018		AT DEC. 31, 2017
Current	$	4,061	$	4,061
Non-current	$	37,879	$	39,142

Expense of the 401(k) Plan

Cleco’s 401(k) Plan expense for the three and nine monthsended September 30, 2018, and 2017 was as follows:

	FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED SEPT. 30,				FOR THE NINE MONTHS  ENDED SEPT. 30,
(THOUSANDS)	2018		2017		2018		2017
401(k) Plan expense	$	1,424	$	1,386	$	4,716	$	4,259

The expense of the 401(k) Plan related to Cleco’s other subsidiaries for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, and 2017 was as follows:

	FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED SEPT. 30,				FOR THE NINE MONTHS ENDED SEPT. 30,
(THOUSANDS)	2018		2017		2018		2017
401(k) Plan expense	$	254	$	234	$	865	$	710

CLECO POWER

Defined Benefit Plans and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans Table Text Block [Line Items]

Current and Non-Current Portions of Other Benefits Liability

Cleco Power
(THOUSANDS)	AT SEPT. 30, 2018		AT DEC. 31, 2017
Current	$	929	$	929
Non-current	$	12,914	$	16,589

Cleco Power
(THOUSANDS)	AT SEPT. 30, 2018		AT DEC. 31, 2017
Current	$	3,525	$	3,525
Non-current	$	33,013	$	34,033