Regulatory Assets and Liabilities, Additional Disclosures (Details) (USD $)			12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended				12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended		12 Months Ended																											12 Months Ended							12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		1 Months Ended		12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2011 Total regulatory assets and liabilities - deferred taxes, net [Member]	Dec. 31, 2007 Deferred mining costs [Member]	May 31, 2001 Deferred mining costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Solid waste facility closure costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Solid waste facility closure costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Deferred tree trimming costs [Member]	Jan. 31, 2008 Deferred tree trimming costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Deferred training costs [Member]	Sep. 30, 2011 Deferred storm surcredits, net [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Deferred storm surcredits, net [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Deferred rate case costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] Total federal regulatory asset - income taxes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Cleco Power [Member] Total federal regulatory asset - income taxes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] Total state regulatory asset - income taxes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Cleco Power [Member] Total state regulatory asset - income taxes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] AFUDC [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Cleco Power [Member] AFUDC [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred mining costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred mining costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred interest costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred interest costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] Asset Retirement Obligation Costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Cleco Power [Member] Asset Retirement Obligation Costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] Removal of asbestos [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Cleco Power [Member] Removal of asbestos [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred postretirement plan costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred postretirement plan costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred tree trimming costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred tree trimming costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred training costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred training costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred storm surcredits, net [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred storm surcredits, net [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred construction carrying costs - asset [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred construction carrying costs - asset [Member]	Dec. 31, 2009 Cleco Power [Member] Lignite mining agreement contingency [Member] T area	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] Lignite mining agreement contingency [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Cleco Power [Member] Lignite mining agreement contingency [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] AFUDC equity gross-up [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Cleco Power [Member] AFUDC equity gross-up [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred rate case costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred rate case costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred Acadia Unit 1 acquisition costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred Acadia Unit 1 acquisition costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred IRP/RFP costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred IRP/RFP costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred AMI pilot costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred AMI pilot costs [Member]	May 31, 2006 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred construction carrying costs - liability [Member]	Feb. 28, 2006 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred construction carrying costs - liability [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred construction carrying costs - liability [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred construction carrying costs - liability [Member]	Mar. 31, 2010 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred construction carrying costs - liability [Member]	Oct. 31, 2009 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred construction carrying costs - liability [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred fuel and purchased power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred fuel and purchased power [Member]
Schedule of Regulatory Assets and Liabilities, Net [Line Items]
Original recovery period (in years)			30 years	11 years 5 months				5 years		50 years			4 years																																		30 years		3 years		3 years				5 years
Revised recovery period (in years)																																																							4 years
Deferred Mining Costs [Abstract]
Percentage of projected costs benchmark received by customers as fuel cost savings (in hundredths)					2.00%
Percentage of benchmark price above which actual mining costs incurred were deferred (in hundredths)					98.00%
Minimum percentage savings to customers (in hundredths)				2.00%
Deferred Asset Removal Costs [Abstract]
Regulatory liabilities																																																							$ 40,322,000	$ 87,875,000
Regulatory assets						500,000	500,000									34,127,000	41,344,000	51,720,000	36,394,000	132,802,000	130,890,000	19,117,000	21,666,000	6,667,000	7,033,000	829,000	768,000	300,000	300,000	132,556,000	117,651,000	8,371,000	11,086,000	7,486,000	7,642,000	9,254,000	10,633,000	10,883,000	18,830,000		3,781,000	3,781,000	74,346,000	74,859,000	1,117,000	1,654,000	2,971,000	3,076,000	508,000	977,000	153,000	283,000							2,136,000	10,348,000
Deferred Tree Trimming Costs [Abstract]
Regulatory asset - cap									12,000,000
Grossed-up rate of return (in hundredths)									12.40%
Deferred Storm Surcredits, Net [Abstract]
Rate of return to customers (in hundredths)												12.20%
Withdrawal from restricted storm reserve											2,000,000
Deferred Construction Carrying Costs [Abstract]
Percentage of jurisdictional portion of construction carrying costs to be collected from customers (in hundredths)																																																						75.00%
Maximum percentage of projected retail revenues collected from customers (in hundredths)																																																					6.50%
Amount of construction carrying costs to be returned to customers																																																										183,200,000
Revised amount of construction carrying costs to be returned to customers																																																									166,400,000
Amount of construction carrying costs returned to customers																																																							126,000,000
Current portion of regulatory costs (e.g. to be returned within one year)	13,028,000	13,508,000												13,028,000	13,508,000																																								33,000,000
Amended Lignite Mining Agreement Contingency [Abstract]
Ownership interest (in hundredths)																																								50.00%
Combined amount paid for interests in jointly owned lignite mining operation																																								25,700,000
Approximate lignite reserves (in tons)																																								43,000,000
Number of mining areas																																								2
Percentage of loans and lease payments guaranteed by Cleco Power (in hundredths)																																								50.00%
Liability recognized for guarantee of loan and lease payments	33,363,000																																								3,800,000
Maximum projected payment under guarantee	4,225,000																																								72,500,000
Deferred Fuel and Purchased Power Costs [Abstract]
Percentage of total fuel cost was regulated by the LPSC (in hundredths)																																																											93.00%
Change in under-recovered fuel costs																																																											(8,200,000)
Change in mark-to-market of open gas positions																																																											(9,800,000)
Change in deferred fuel and purchased power costs																																																											$ 2,000,000