Regulatory Assets and Liabilities, Additional Disclosures (Details) (USD $)				1 Months Ended													1 Months Ended																			12 Months Ended																1 Months Ended			12 Months Ended										36 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Jan. 31, 2008 Deferred tree trimming costs [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Deferred storm surcredits, net [Member]	Sep. 30, 2011 Deferred storm surcredits, net [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Deferred storm surcredits, net [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Cleco Power [Member] Total federal regulatory asset - income taxes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] Total federal regulatory asset - income taxes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Cleco Power [Member] Total state regulatory asset - income taxes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] Total state regulatory asset - income taxes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Cleco Power [Member] AFUDC [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] AFUDC [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Cleco Power [Member] Total investment tax credit [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] Total investment tax credit [Member]	Dec. 31, 2007 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred mining costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred mining costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred mining costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred interest costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred interest costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Cleco Power [Member] Asset Retirement Obligation Costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] Asset Retirement Obligation Costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred postretirement plan costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred postretirement plan costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred tree trimming costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred tree trimming costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred training costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred training costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred storm surcredits, net [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred storm surcredits, net [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred construction carrying costs - asset [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred construction carrying costs - asset [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Cleco Power [Member] PowerPurchaseAgreementCapacityCosts [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] PowerPurchaseAgreementCapacityCosts [Member]	Dec. 31, 2009 Cleco Power [Member] Lignite mining agreement contingency [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Cleco Power [Member] Lignite mining agreement contingency [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] Lignite mining agreement contingency [Member]	Apr. 30, 2009 Cleco Power [Member] Lignite mining agreement contingency [Member] area T	Dec. 31, 2012 Cleco Power [Member] AMI Deferred Revenue Requirement [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] AMI Deferred Revenue Requirement [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Cleco Power [Member] AFUDC equity gross-up [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] AFUDC equity gross-up [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred rate case costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred rate case costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred Acadia Unit 1 acquisition costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred Acadia Unit 1 acquisition costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred IRP/RFP costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred IRP/RFP costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred AMI pilot costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred AMI pilot costs [Member]	Feb. 28, 2006 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred construction carrying costs - liability [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred construction carrying costs - liability [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred construction carrying costs - liability [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred fuel and purchased power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred fuel and purchased power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred Financing costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] Deferred Financing costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Cleco Power [Member] Biomass costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] Biomass costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] Removal of asbestos [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Cleco Power [Member] Removal of asbestos [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Cleco Power [Member] Solid waste facility closure costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cleco Power [Member] Solid waste facility closure costs [Member]	Apr. 30, 2015 Evangeline Power Purchase Agreement [Member] Evangeline [Member] Cleco Power [Member] MW	Dec. 31, 2012 Maximum [Member] Cleco Power [Member] AMI Deferred Revenue Requirement [Member]	Feb. 28, 2011 Maximum [Member] Cleco Power [Member] AMI Deferred Revenue Requirement [Member]
Schedule of Regulatory Assets and Liabilities, Net [Line Items]
Regulatory Assets									$ 24,222,000	$ 34,127,000	$ 57,480,000	$ 51,720,000	$ 132,267,000	$ 132,802,000				$ 16,569,000	$ 19,117,000	$ 6,304,000	$ 6,667,000	$ 867,000	$ 829,000	$ 156,458,000	$ 132,556,000	$ 5,656,000	$ 8,371,000	$ 7,330,000	$ 7,486,000	$ 6,211,000	$ 9,254,000	$ 4,697,000	$ 10,883,000	$ 6,217,000	$ 0		$ 3,781,000	$ 3,781,000		$ 1,483,000	$ 0	$ 74,158,000	$ 74,346,000	$ 581,000	$ 1,117,000	$ 2,865,000	$ 2,971,000	$ 39,000	$ 508,000	$ 22,000	$ 153,000				$ 7,833,000	$ 2,136,000	$ 7,282,000	$ 4,433,000	$ 145,000	$ 0							$ 20,000,000
Regulatory liabilities															3,524,000	4,228,000																																					8,255,000	40,322,000
Deferred Mining Costs [Abstract]
Regulatory Noncurrent Asset, Amortization Period																	11.5																																																	15
Minimum percentage savings to customers (in hundredths)																	2.00%
Asset Retirement Obligations, Noncurrent																																																													300,000	300,000	600,000	500,000
Deferred Tree Trimming Costs [Abstract]
Regulatory asset - cap			12,000,000
Grossed-up rate of return (in hundredths)			12.40%
Deferred Storm Surcredits, Net [Abstract]
Rate of return to customers (in hundredths)						12.20%
Withdrawal from restricted storm reserve				10,000,000	2,000,000
Deferred Construction Carrying Costs [Abstract]
Percentage of jurisdictional portion of construction carrying costs to be collected from customers (in hundredths)																																																				75.00%
Amount of construction carrying costs returned to customers																																																					158,200,000
Current portion of regulatory costs (e.g. to be returned within one year)	11,095,000	13,028,000					11,095,000	13,028,000																																													8,300,000
Amended Lignite Mining Agreement Contingency [Abstract]
Ownership interest (in hundredths)																																							50.00%
Combined amount paid for interests in jointly owned lignite mining operation																																							25,700,000
Approximate lignite reserves (in tons)																																							43,000,000
Number of mining areas																																							2
Percentage of loans and lease payments guaranteed by Cleco Power (in hundredths)																																				50.00%
Liability recognized for guarantee of loan and lease payments	12,156,000																																				3,800,000
Maximum projected payment under guarantee	4,225,000																																				72,500,000
Capacity and energy																																																																	730
Deferred Fuel and Purchased Power Costs [Abstract]
Percentage of total fuel cost was regulated by the LPSC (in hundredths)																																																							89.00%
Change in under-recovered fuel costs																																																							5,700,000
Change In Deferred Fuel & Purchased Power																																																							12,200,000
Change in losses on gas positions																																																							$ (6,500,000)