Pension Plan and Employee Benefits (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2010	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2010	Dec. 31, 2010
401(k) Plan [Abstract]
401(k) Plan expense	$ 945,000	$ 925,000	$ 2,998,000	$ 2,784,000
Cleco Power [Member] | Other Benefits [Member]
Amortizations:
Net periodic benefit cost	900,000	500,000	2,700,000	1,600,000
Current portion of other benefits liability	2,800,000		2,800,000		2,800,000
Cleco Power [Member] | SERP [Member]
Amortizations:
Net periodic benefit cost	300,000	400,000	900,000	900,000
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	700,000	600,000
Other Subsidiaries [Member] | Pension Plan [Member]
Amortizations:
Net periodic benefit cost	500,000	500,000	1,600,000	1,400,000
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	2,097,000	1,863,000	6,292,000	5,588,000
Interest cost	4,407,000	4,286,000	13,222,000	12,859,000
Expected return on plan assets	(6,161,000)	(5,057,000)	(18,484,000)	(15,171,000)
Amortizations:
Prior period service cost	(18,000)	(18,000)	(54,000)	(54,000)
Net loss	1,389,000	789,000	4,167,000	2,367,000
Net periodic benefit cost	1,714,000	1,863,000	5,143,000	5,589,000
Other Benefits [Member]
Components of periodic benefit costs
Service cost	390,000	383,000	1,149,000	1,149,000
Interest cost	443,000	499,000	1,364,000	1,498,000
Amortizations:
Transition obligation	5,000	5,000	15,000	15,000
Prior period service cost	(51,000)	(505,000)	(154,000)	(1,516,000)
Net loss	246,000	250,000	758,000	751,000
Net periodic benefit cost	1,033,000	632,000	3,132,000	1,897,000
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	392,000	453,000	1,175,000	1,148,000
Interest cost	526,000	541,000	1,578,000	1,591,000
Amortizations:
Prior period service cost	13,000	13,000	40,000	40,000
Net loss	235,000	253,000	705,000	695,000
Net periodic benefit cost	1,166,000	1,260,000	3,498,000	3,474,000
Current portion of SERP liability	$ 1,800,000		$ 1,800,000		$ 2,000,000