Litigation, Other Commitments and Contingencies, and Disclosures about Guarantees - Long-Term Purchase Obligations (Details) - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
CLECO POWER
FUTURE PAYMENTS UNDER LONG-TERM PURCHASE OBLIGATIONS
Payments under long-term purchase obligations	$ 70,500,000	$ 47,000,000	$ 72,900,000
CLECO POWER | Purchase of coal, petroleum coke, limestone, entergy capacity and energy delivery facilities
Unrecorded Unconditional Purchase Obligation [Line Items]
Unconditional purchase obligations	108,475,000
FUTURE PAYMENTS UNDER LONG-TERM PURCHASE OBLIGATIONS
2019	40,980,000
2020	24,092,000
2021	17,695,000
2022	4,620,000
2023	4,646,000
Thereafter	16,442,000
Total long-term purchase obligations	108,475,000
Cleco Holdings
Unrecorded Unconditional Purchase Obligation [Line Items]
Unconditional purchase obligations	0
FUTURE PAYMENTS UNDER LONG-TERM PURCHASE OBLIGATIONS
Total long-term purchase obligations	$ 0