Pension Plan and Employee Benefits (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2010	Jun. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2010	Dec. 31, 2010
401(k) Plan [Abstract]
401(k) Plan expense	$ 852,000	$ 829,000	$ 2,053,000	$ 1,859,000
Cleco Power [Member] | Other Benefits [Member]
Components of periodic benefit costs
Net periodic benefit cost	900,000	500,000	1,800,000	1,100,000
Current portion of other benefits liability	2,800,000		2,800,000		2,800,000
Cleco Power [Member] | SERP [Member]
Components of periodic benefit costs
Net periodic benefit cost	300,000	300,000	600,000	500,000
Current portion of SERP liability	700,000		700,000		600,000
Other Subsidiaries [Member]
401(k) Plan [Abstract]
401(k) Plan expense	200,000	200,000	500,000	400,000
Other Subsidiaries [Member] | Pension Plan [Member]
Components of periodic benefit costs
Net periodic benefit cost	500,000	500,000	1,100,000	1,000,000
Pension Plan [Member]
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
General information			Benefits under the plan reflect an employee's years of service, age at retirement, and highest total average compensation for any consecutive five calendar years during the last 10 years of employment with Cleco Corporation.
Discretionary contributions to pension plan			60,000,000
Contributions designated for prior plan year			40,100,000
Contributions designated for current plan year			19,900,000
Discretionary contributions to pension plans during the next five years	15,200,000		15,200,000
Components of periodic benefit costs
Service cost	2,143,000	1,973,000	4,195,000	3,725,000
Interest cost	4,422,000	4,459,000	8,815,000	8,573,000
Expected return on plan assets	(6,811,000)	(5,248,000)	(12,323,000)	(10,114,000)
Transition obligation	0	0	0	0
Prior period service cost	(18,000)	(18,000)	(36,000)	(36,000)
Net loss	1,376,000	1,095,000	2,778,000	1,578,000
Net periodic benefit cost	1,112,000	2,261,000	3,429,000	3,726,000
Other Benefits [Member]
Components of periodic benefit costs
Service cost	379,000	383,000	758,000	766,000
Interest cost	460,000	499,000	921,000	998,000
Expected return on plan assets	0	0	0	0
Transition obligation	5,000	5,000	10,000	10,000
Prior period service cost	(51,000)	(505,000)	(103,000)	(1,010,000)
Net loss	256,000	250,000	513,000	500,000
Net periodic benefit cost	1,049,000	632,000	2,099,000	1,264,000
Current portion of other benefits liability	3,000,000		3,000,000		3,000,000
SERP [Member]
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
General information			Benefits under the plan reflect an employee's years of service, age at retirement, and the sum of the highest base salary paid out of the last five calendar years and the average of the three highest bonuses paid during the 60 months prior to retirement, reduced by benefits received from any other defined benefit pension plan, SERP Plan or Cleco contributions under the enhanced 401(k) Plan to the extent such contributions exceed the limits of the 401(k) Plan.
Components of periodic benefit costs
Service cost	333,000	347,000	783,000	695,000
Interest cost	527,000	525,000	1,052,000	1,050,000
Prior period service cost	13,000	14,000	27,000	27,000
Net loss	208,000	221,000	470,000	442,000
Net periodic benefit cost	1,081,000	1,107,000	2,332,000	2,214,000
Current portion of SERP liability	$ 1,800,000		$ 1,800,000		$ 2,000,000