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Pension Plan and Employee Benefits (Tables)
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2020
Defined Benefit Plans and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans [Line Items]  
Schedule of Reconciliation of Benefit Obligations, Plan Assets and Funded Status of Pension Plans The employee pension plan and Other Benefits plan obligation, plan assets, and funded status at December 31, 2020, and 2019 are presented in the following table:
 PENSION BENEFITSOTHER BENEFITS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED DEC. 31,FOR THE YEAR ENDED DEC. 31,
(THOUSANDS)2020201920202019
Change in benefit obligation
Benefit obligation at beginning of period
$610,323 $530,936 $52,722 $40,455 
Service cost
9,820 8,414 2,153 1,191 
Interest cost
20,816 22,485 1,651 1,646 
Plan participants’ contributions
— — 1,289 1,229 
Actuarial loss (gain)
71,708 73,655 4,221 13,897 
Expenses paid
(2,661)(2,933)— — 
Benefits paid(23,622)(22,234)(5,705)(5,696)
Benefit obligation at end of period
686,384 610,323 56,331 52,722 
Change in plan assets
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of period
460,097 391,933 — — 
Actual return on plan assets
66,557 81,081 — — 
Employer contributions
15,750 12,250 — — 
Expenses paid
(2,662)(2,933)— — 
Benefits paid(23,622)(22,234)— — 
Fair value of plan assets at end of period
516,120 460,097 — — 
Unfunded status$(170,264)$(150,226)$(56,331)$(52,722)
SERP’s funded status at December 31, 2020, and 2019 is presented in the following table:

 SERP BENEFITS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED DEC. 31,
(THOUSANDS)20202019
Change in benefit obligation
Benefit obligation at beginning of period
$89,128 $78,414 
Service cost399 330 
Interest cost2,932 3,326 
Actuarial loss (gain)9,621 11,608 
Benefits paid(4,590)(4,550)
Plan amendments(265)— 
Benefit obligation at end of period
$97,225 $89,128 
Schedule of Accumulated Benefit Obligation
The employee pension plan accumulated benefit obligation at December 31, 2020, and 2019 is presented in the following table:

 PENSION BENEFITS
AT DEC. 31,
(THOUSANDS)20202019
Accumulated benefit obligation$636,199 $568,354 
SERP’s accumulated benefit obligation at December 31, 2020, and 2019 is presented in the following table:

 SERP BENEFITS
AT DEC. 31,
(THOUSANDS)20202019
Accumulated benefit obligation$97,225 $89,128 
Schedule of Amounts Recognized in Other Comprehensive Income The following table presents the net actuarial gains/losses and prior service costs/credits included in other comprehensive income for Other Benefits and in regulatory assets for pension related to current year gains and losses as a result of being included in net periodic benefit costs for the employee pension plan and Other Benefits plan for December 31, 2020, and 2019:
PENSION BENEFITSOTHER BENEFITS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED DEC. 31,FOR THE YEAR ENDED DEC. 31,
(THOUSANDS)2020201920202019
Net actuarial loss (gain) occurring during period$30,126 $19,075 $4,221 $13,897 
Net actuarial loss amortized during period$16,292 $7,849 $1,389 $21 
Prior service credit amortized during period$(60)$(71)$— $— 
The following table presents net actuarial gains/losses and prior service costs/credits included in other comprehensive income or regulatory assets related to current year gains and losses as a result of being amortized as a component of net periodic benefit costs for SERP for December 31, 2020, and 2019:

 SERP BENEFITS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED DEC. 31,
(THOUSANDS)20202019
Net actuarial loss (gain) occurring during year
$9,621 $11,608 
Net actuarial loss amortized during year
$3,185 $1,544 
Prior service credit amortized during year
$(215)$(160)
Schedule of Amounts Recognized in Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income
The following table presents net actuarial gains/losses and prior service costs/credits in accumulated other comprehensive income for Other Benefits and in regulatory assets for pension that have not been recognized as components of net periodic benefit costs for the employee pension plan and Other Benefits plans at December 31, 2020, and 2019:

PENSION BENEFITSOTHER BENEFITS
AT DEC. 31,AT DEC. 31,
(THOUSANDS)2020201920202019
Net actuarial loss$165,437 $151,603 $21,342 $15,732 
Prior service credit$— $(60)$— $— 
The following table presents net actuarial losses and prior service credit in accumulated other comprehensive income and regulatory assets that have not been recognized as components of net periodic benefit costs for SERP at December 31, 2020, and 2019:

 SERP BENEFITS
AT DEC. 31
(THOUSANDS)20202019
Net actuarial loss$34,825 $28,731 
Prior service credit$(1,728)$(1,678)
Schedule of Components of Net Periodic Pension and Other Benefit Costs The components of net periodic pension and Other Benefits costs for 2020, 2019, and 2018 are as follows:
PENSION BENEFITSOTHER BENEFITS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED DEC. 31,FOR THE YEAR ENDED DEC. 31,
(THOUSANDS)202020192018202020192018
Components of periodic benefit costs
Service cost$9,820 $8,414 $9,507 $2,153 $1,191 $1,320 
Interest cost20,816 22,485 20,860 1,651 1,646 1,465 
Expected return on plan assets(24,974)(26,502)(23,773)— — — 
Amortizations
Prior service credit(60)(71)(71)— — — 
Net loss (gain)16,292 7,849 12,312 1,389 21 135 
Net periodic benefit cost$21,894 $12,175 $18,835 $5,193 $2,858 $2,920 
The components of the net SERP costs for 2020, 2019, and 2018 are as follows:
 SERP BENEFITS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED DEC. 31,
(THOUSANDS)202020192018
Components of periodic benefit costs
Service cost$399 $330 $542 
Interest cost2,932 3,326 3,077 
Amortizations
Prior service credit(215)(160)(160)
Net loss3,186 1,544 2,913 
Net periodic benefit cost$6,302 $5,040 $6,372 
Schedule of Amounts Recognized in Balance Sheet The current and non-current portions of the Other Benefits liability for Cleco and Cleco Power at December 31, 2020, and 2019 are as follows:
Cleco
AT DEC. 31,
(THOUSANDS)20202019
Current$4,463 $4,401 
Non-current$51,868 $48,321 
The current and non-current portions of the SERP liability for Cleco and Cleco Power at December 31, 2020, and 2019 are as follows:
Cleco
AT DEC. 31,
(THOUSANDS)20202019
Current$4,703 $4,599 
Non-current$92,522 $84,529 
Schedule of Weighted-Average Assumptions Used to Determine Benefit Obligation and Net Periodic Costs The assumptions used to determine the benefit obligation and the periodic costs are as follows:
 PENSION BENEFITSOTHER BENEFITS
AT DEC. 31,AT DEC. 31,
 2020201920202019
Weighted-average assumptions used to determine the benefit obligation    
Discount rate2.74 %3.43 %2.39 %3.25 %
Rate of compensation increase
2.75 %2.81 %N/AN/A

 PENSION BENEFITSOTHER BENEFITS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED DEC. 31,FOR THE YEAR ENDED DEC. 31,
 202020192018202020192018
Weighted-average assumptions used to determine the net benefit cost
Discount rate3.43 %4.35 %3.73 %3.25 %4.16 %3.47 %
Expected return on plan assets
5.91 %6.55 %5.86 %N/AN/AN/A
Rate of compensation increase
2.75 %2.81 %2.93 %N/AN/AN/A
The assumptions used to determine the benefit obligation and the periodic costs are as follows:
 SERP BENEFITS
AT DEC. 31,
 20202019
Weighted-average assumptions used to determine the benefit obligation
  
Discount rate2.64 %3.37 %
Rate of compensation increaseN/A5.00 %
 SERP BENEFITS
 202020192018
Weighted-average assumptions used to determine the net benefit cost
Discount rate3.37 %4.34 %3.70 %
Rate of compensation increaseN/A5.00 %5.00 %
Schedule of Fair Value Allocation of Pension Plan The following tables disclose the pension plan’s fair value of financial assets measured on a recurring basis:
(THOUSANDS)AT DEC. 31, 2020QUOTED PRICES
IN ACTIVE
MARKETS FOR
IDENTICAL
ASSETS
(LEVEL 1)		SIGNIFICANT
OTHER
OBSERVABLE
INPUTS
(LEVEL 2)		SIGNIFICANT
UNOBSERVABLE
INPUTS
(LEVEL 3)
Asset Description    
Cash equivalents$19,567 $— $19,567 $— 
Government securities
26,863 — 26,863 — 
Mutual funds
Domestic
107,055 107,055 — — 
International
60,104 60,104 — — 
Real estate funds35,962 — — 35,962 
Corporate debt192,261 — 192,261 — 
Total$441,812 $167,159 $238,691 $35,962 
Investments measured at net asset value*72,044 
Interest accrual2,264 
Total net assets$516,120 
*Investments measured at net asset value consist of Common/collective trust.
(THOUSANDS)AT DEC. 31, 2019QUOTED PRICES
IN ACTIVE
MARKETS FOR
IDENTICAL ASSETS
(LEVEL 1)		SIGNIFICANT
OTHER
OBSERVABLE
INPUTS
(LEVEL 2)		SIGNIFICANT
UNOBSERVABLE
INPUTS
(LEVEL 3)
Asset Description    
Cash equivalents$4,810 $— $4,810 $— 
Government securities
19,517 — 19,517 — 
Mutual funds
Domestic
102,184 102,184 — — 
International
53,041 53,041 — — 
Real estate funds18,017 — — 18,017 
Corporate debt157,109 — 157,109 — 
Total$354,678 $155,225 $181,436 $18,017 
Investments measured at net asset value*103,326 
Interest accrual2,093 
Total net assets$460,097 
*Investments measured at net asset value consist of Common/collective trust.
The following chart shows the dynamic asset allocation based on the funded ratio at December 31, 2020:

 PERCENT OF TOTAL PLAN ASSETS
AT DEC. 31, 2020
 MINIMUMTARGETMAXIMUM
Return-seeking   
Domestic equity19 %
International equity20 %
Multi-asset credit6 %
Real estate5 %
Total return-seeking45 %50 %55 %
Liability hedging*45 %50 %55 %
*Liability hedging has no target subcategories.
Schedule of Pension Plan Unobservable Input Reconciliation The following is a reconciliation of the beginning and ending balances of the pension plan’s real estate funds measured at fair value on a recurring basis using significant unobservable inputs (Level 3) during the years ended December 31, 2020, and 2019:
(THOUSANDS)
Balance, Dec. 31, 2018$20,298 
Realized losses370 
Unrealized gains(1,727)
Purchases759 
Sales(1,683)
Balance, Dec. 31, 2019$18,017 
Realized gains251 
Unrealized losses(1,603)
Purchases20,893 
Sales(1,596)
Balance, Dec. 31, 2020$35,962 
Schedule of Projected Benefit Payments and Projected Receipts
The projected benefit payments for the employee pension plan and Other Benefits obligation plan for each year through 2025 and the next five years thereafter are listed in the following table:

(THOUSANDS)PENSION BENEFITSOTHER
BENEFITS,
GROSS
For the year ending Dec. 31,
2021$25,568 $4,516 
2022$26,904 $4,551 
2023$28,064 $4,515 
2024$29,140 $4,533 
2025$30,336 $4,497 
Next five years
$164,801 $21,676 
The projected benefit payments for SERP for each year through 2025 and the next five years thereafter are shown in the following table:

(THOUSANDS)20212022202320242025NEXT FIVE
YEARS
SERP$4,764 $4,756 $4,809 $4,867 $5,000 $25,178 
Schedule of 401(k) Plan Expense Cleco’s 401(k) Plan expense for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019, and 2018 was as follows:
 FOR THE YEAR ENDED DEC. 31,
(THOUSANDS)202020192018
401(k) Plan expense
$9,685 $7,861 $5,884 
The expense of the 401(k) Plan related to Cleco’s other subsidiaries for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019, and 2018 was as follows:
 FOR THE YEAR ENDED DEC. 31,
(THOUSANDS)202020192018
401(k) Plan expense
$4,424 $3,408 $1,066 
CLECO POWER  
Defined Benefit Plans and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans [Line Items]  
Schedule of Amounts Recognized in Balance Sheet
Cleco Power
AT DEC. 31,
(THOUSANDS)20202019
Current$3,865 $3,815 
Non-current$40,734 $42,080 
Cleco Power
AT DEC. 31,
(THOUSANDS)20202019
Current$711 $760 
Non-current$19,828 $13,964