Pension Plan and Employee Benefits - Current and Non-Current Portions of SERP Liability (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Mar. 31, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Non-current	$ 283,830	$ 283,075
SERP Benefits
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Current	4,599	4,599
Non-current	84,219	84,529
CLECO POWER
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Non-current	207,293	206,270
CLECO POWER \| SERP Benefits
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Current	760	760
Non-current	$ 13,863	$ 13,964

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

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=118255775&loc=d3e1928-114920

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 715
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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 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
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-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

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