Pension Plan and Employee Benefits (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2012	Mar. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2011
Pension Benefits [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.
Components of periodic benefit costs
Service cost	$ 2,149,000	$ 2,052,000
Interest cost	4,430,000	4,392,000
Expected return on plan assets	(5,194,000)	(5,512,000)
Transition obligation	0	0
Prior period service cost	(18,000)	(18,000)
Net loss	1,783,000	1,403,000
Net periodic benefit cost	3,150,000	2,317,000
Discretionary contributions to the pension plan	0		60,000,000
Pension Benefits [Member] | Other Subsidiaries [Member]
Components of periodic benefit costs
Net periodic benefit cost	500,000	500,000
Other Benefits [Member]
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
General information	Cleco’s retirees and their dependents are eligible to receive medical, dental, vision, and life insurance benefits (other benefits).
Components of periodic benefit costs
Service cost	397,000	379,000
Interest cost	476,000	460,000
Expected return on plan assets	0	0
Transition obligation	5,000	5,000
Prior period service cost	0	(52,000)
Net loss	200,000	257,000
Net periodic benefit cost	1,078,000	1,049,000
Current portion of other benefits liability	3,100,000		3,100,000
Other Benefits [Member] | Cleco Power [Member]
Components of periodic benefit costs
Net periodic benefit cost	900,000	900,000
Current portion of other benefits liability	2,900,000		2,900,000
SERP Benefits [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	1,001,000	450,000
Interest cost	574,000	525,000
Prior period service cost	14,000	14,000
Net loss	309,000	262,000
Net periodic benefit cost	1,898,000	1,251,000
Curent portion of SERP liability	2,600,000		2,200,000
SERP Benefits [Member] | Cleco Power [Member]
Components of periodic benefit costs
Net periodic benefit cost	300,000	300,000
Curent portion of SERP liability	800,000		800,000
Prior Plan Year [Member] | Pension Benefits [Member]
Components of periodic benefit costs
Contributions designated for prior plan year			40,100,000
Current Plan Year [Member] | Pension Benefits [Member]
Components of periodic benefit costs
Contributions designated for current plan year			$ 19,900,000