Pension Plan and Employee Benefits, SERP (Details) (SERP Benefits [Member], USD $)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011	Dec. 31, 2011
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	$ 372,000	$ 392,000	$ 1,115,000	$ 1,175,000
Interest cost	632,000	526,000	1,895,000	1,578,000
Prior period service cost	13,000	13,000	40,000	40,000
Net loss	441,000	234,000	1,324,000	705,000
Net periodic benefit cost	1,458,000	1,165,000	4,374,000	3,498,000
Curent portion of SERP liability	2,500,000		2,500,000		2,200,000
Cleco Power [Member]
Components of periodic benefit costs
Net periodic benefit cost	400,000	300,000	1,100,000	900,000
Curent portion of SERP liability	$ 800,000		$ 800,000		$ 800,000