Income Taxes - Current and Deferred Income Tax Expense (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2021	Dec. 31, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019
Components of Income Tax Expense [Line Items]
Current federal income tax (benefit) expense	$ (2)	$ (2,634)	$ 1,600
Deferred federal income tax (benefit) expense	(9,581)	21,865	37,963
Amortization of accumulated deferred investment tax credits	(142)	(159)	(191)
Total federal income tax (benefit) expense	(9,725)	19,072	39,372
Current state income tax (benefit) expense	(699)	2,636	1,675
Deferred state income tax expense	23,535	14,010	2,118
Total state income tax expense	22,836	16,646	3,793
Total tax expense	13,111	35,718	43,165
Items charged or credited directly to member’s equity
Total tax expense (benefit) from items charged directly to member’s equity	394	(2,922)	(6,808)
Total federal and state income tax expense	13,505	32,796	36,357
Federal deferred
Items charged or credited directly to member’s equity
Total tax expense (benefit) from items charged directly to member’s equity	514	(2,202)	(5,130)
State deferred
Items charged or credited directly to member’s equity
Total tax expense (benefit) from items charged directly to member’s equity	(120)	(720)	(1,678)
CLECO POWER
Components of Income Tax Expense [Line Items]
Current federal income tax (benefit) expense	0	15,724	14,781
Deferred federal income tax (benefit) expense	(23,071)	(5,033)	22,443
Amortization of accumulated deferred investment tax credits	(142)	(159)	(191)
Total federal income tax (benefit) expense	(23,213)	10,532	37,033
Current state income tax (benefit) expense	0	5,069	9,063
Deferred state income tax expense	13,860	11,198	(644)
Total state income tax expense	13,860	16,267	8,419
Total tax expense	(9,353)	26,799	45,452
Items charged or credited directly to member’s equity
Total tax expense (benefit) from items charged directly to member’s equity	2,052	(765)	(3,318)
Total federal and state income tax expense	(7,301)	26,034	42,134
CLECO POWER | Federal deferred
Items charged or credited directly to member’s equity
Total tax expense (benefit) from items charged directly to member’s equity	1,714	(576)	(2,500)
CLECO POWER | State deferred
Items charged or credited directly to member’s equity
Total tax expense (benefit) from items charged directly to member’s equity	$ 338	$ (189)	$ (818)