Pension Plan and Employee Benefits - Current and Non-Current Portions of SERP Liability (Details) - SERP Benefits - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Current	$ 4,471	$ 4,471
Non-current	79,300	79,868
CLECO POWER
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Current	929	929
Non-current	$ 12,914	$ 16,589

Amount of liability, recognized in statement of financial position, for defined benefit pension plan, classified as noncurrent. Excludes other postretirement benefit plan.

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 715
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (c)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=108410482&loc=d3e1928-114920

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02(24))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 715
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 3
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109237824&loc=d3e1731-114919

Reference 4: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 715
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109237824&loc=d3e1703-114919

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