Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - Deferred Project Costs (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
CLECO POWER
Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Deferred project costs	$ 1.4	$ 3.2

Gross amount of other deferred costs capitalized at the end of the reporting period. Does not include deferred finance costs or deferred acquisition costs of insurance companies.

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.17)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Name:	us-gaap_OtherDeferredCostsGross
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant