Schedule I Financial Statements of Cleco Corporation, Debt (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended						12 Months Ended			0 Months Ended			1 Months Ended		0 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2012 Line of Credit [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Line of Credit [Member] Cleco Corporation's credit facility draws [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Line of Credit [Member] Cleco Corporation's credit facility draws [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 CLECO CORPORATION (Parent Company Only) [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 CLECO CORPORATION (Parent Company Only) [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 CLECO CORPORATION (Parent Company Only) [Member]	Feb. 04, 2013 CLECO CORPORATION (Parent Company Only) [Member] Line of Credit [Member]	Jan. 28, 2013 CLECO CORPORATION (Parent Company Only) [Member] Line of Credit [Member]	Oct. 07, 2011 CLECO CORPORATION (Parent Company Only) [Member] Line of Credit [Member]	Nov. 30, 2010 CLECO CORPORATION (Parent Company Only) [Member] Line of Credit [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 CLECO CORPORATION (Parent Company Only) [Member] Line of Credit [Member]	Feb. 04, 2013 CLECO CORPORATION (Parent Company Only) [Member] Line of Credit [Member] Cleco Corporation's credit facility draws [Member]	Jan. 28, 2013 CLECO CORPORATION (Parent Company Only) [Member] Line of Credit [Member] Cleco Corporation's credit facility draws [Member]
Debt [Abstract]
Short-term debt outstanding	$ 0						$ 0
Retirement of short-term debt	0	150,000,000	0				0	150,000,000	0
Long-term debt outstanding							25,000,000	10,000,000
Maximum borrowing capacity				550,000,000								250,000,000
Maturity date													Oct. 07, 2016
Interest rate description												LIBOR plus 1.50% or ABR
Fees (in hundredths)												0.25%
Gross amount of long-term debt and capital lease obligations	1,356,548,000	1,372,105,000
Amount outstanding					25,000,000	10,000,000
Available borrowing capacity														225,000,000
Repayments of Lines of Credit	$ 10,000,000	$ 100,000,000	$ 100,000,000				$ 10,000,000	$ 40,000,000	$ 100,000,000	$ 15,000,000	$ 10,000,000				$ 15,000,000	$ 10,000,000