Consolidated Statements of Income (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010
Operating revenue
Electric operations	$ 944,169	$ 1,051,956	$ 1,086,102
Tolling operations	0	19,004	26,067
Other operations	50,158	52,962	44,529
Affiliate revenue	0	202	1,564
Gross operating revenue	994,327	1,124,124	1,158,262
Electric customer credits	(630)	(6,811)	(9,596)
Operating revenue, net	993,697	1,117,313	1,148,666
Operating expenses
Fuel used for electric generation	280,553	383,254	363,550
Power purchased for utility customers	53,134	70,462	144,152
Other operations	120,898	123,849	117,229
Maintenance	86,488	82,076	81,228
Depreciation	132,407	122,578	114,584
Taxes other than income taxes	38,515	36,356	34,626
Gain (loss) on sales of assets	51	491	338
Total operating expenses	712,046	819,066	855,707
Operating income (loss)	281,651	298,247	292,959
Interest income	346	891	409
Allowance for other funds used during construction	6,711	4,947	12,413
Equity income (loss) from investees, before tax	0	62,050	38,849
Gain on toll settlement	0	0	148,402
Other income	29,117	8,914	5,242
Other expense	(4,694)	(5,646)	(4,609)
Interest charges
Interest charges, including amortization of debt expense,premium, and discount, net	86,448	72,445	100,339
Allowance for borrowed funds used during construction	(2,292)	(1,787)	(4,563)
Total interest charges	84,156	70,658	95,776
Income before income taxes	228,975	298,745	397,889
Federal and state income tax expense	65,327	102,897	142,498
Net income	163,648	195,848	255,391
Preferred dividends requirements	0	26	46
Preferred stock redemption costs	0	112	0
Net income applicable to common stock	163,648	195,710	255,345
Average shares of common stock outstanding
Average number of basic common shares outstanding (in shares)	60,370,588	60,488,740	60,431,142
Average number of diluted common shares outstanding (in shares)	60,628,129	60,833,564	60,754,589
Basic earnings per share
Net income applicable to common stock (in dollars per share)	$ 2.71	$ 3.24	$ 4.23
Diluted earnings per share
Net income applicable to common stock (in dollars per share)	$ 2.70	$ 3.22	$ 4.20
Cash dividends paid per share of common stock (in dollars per share)	$ 1.30	$ 1.1225	$ 0.975
Cleco Power [Member]
Operating revenue
Electric operations	944,169	1,051,956	1,086,102
Tolling operations	0	0	0
Other operations	48,156	50,948	42,578
Affiliate revenue	1,372	1,389	1,371
Gross operating revenue	993,697	1,104,293	1,130,051
Electric customer credits	(630)	(6,811)	(9,596)
Operating revenue, net	993,067	1,097,482	1,120,455
Operating expenses
Fuel used for electric generation	280,249	383,254	363,550
Power purchased for utility customers	78,683	70,462	144,152
Other operations	115,072	116,988	109,678
Maintenance	72,386	74,603	72,048
Depreciation	125,486	115,634	107,966
Taxes other than income taxes	33,999	32,157	32,744
Gain (loss) on sales of assets	(2)	(9)	47
Total operating expenses	705,873	793,089	830,185
Operating income (loss)	287,194	304,393	290,270
Interest income	333	630	379
Allowance for other funds used during construction	6,711	4,947	12,413
Equity income (loss) from investees, before tax		0	0
Gain on toll settlement			0
Other income	5,847	3,163	2,007
Other expense	(4,602)	(3,799)	(3,826)
Interest charges
Interest charges, including amortization of debt expense,premium, and discount, net	82,794	98,877	83,294
Allowance for borrowed funds used during construction	(2,292)	(1,787)	(4,563)
Total interest charges	80,502	97,090	78,731
Income before income taxes	214,981	212,244	222,512
Federal and state income tax expense	68,133	69,409	75,107
Net income	$ 146,848	$ 142,835	$ 147,405