The Company (Details) customer in Thousands, $ in Thousands	Dec. 31, 2021 USD ($) generation_unit customer MW	Dec. 31, 2020 USD ($)
CLECO POWER
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Line Items]
Number of generating units owned | generation_unit	9
Nameplate capacity of all generating units (MW) | MW	3,035
Approximate number of customers served | customer	291
Ownership interest in lignite entity	50.00%
Regulatory asset | $	$ 759,165	$ 456,034
CLECO POWER | COVID-19 executive order
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Line Items]
Regulatory asset | $	$ 2,953	$ 2,953
Cleco Cajun
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Line Items]
Number of generating units owned | generation_unit	14
Nameplate capacity of all generating units (MW) | MW	3,379