Electric Customer Credits (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Feb. 12, 2010
Provision for rate refund		$ 7,259,000	$ 7,323,000
Cleco Power [Member]
Target return on equity allowed by FRP (in hundredths)				10.70%
Percentage of retail earnings within range to be returned to customers (in hundredths)				60.00%
Return on equity for customer credit, low range (in hundredths)				11.30%
Return on equity for customer credit, high range (in hundredths)				12.30%
Total customer credits	5,100,000
Provision for rate refund		$ 7,259,000	$ 7,323,000