Regulatory Assets and Liabilities, Additional Disclosures (Details) (USD $)					36 Months Ended										6 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended				1 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Jun. 30, 2013 Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Cleco Power [Member]	Apr. 30, 2015 Evangeline [Member] Evangeline Power Purchase Agreement [Member] Cleco Power [Member] MW	Mar. 31, 2012 Evangeline [Member] Evangeline Power Purchase Agreement [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Swap [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	May 07, 2013 Swap [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Deferred tree trimming costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Jan. 29, 2013 Deferred tree trimming costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Deferred tree trimming costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Jan. 31, 2008 Deferred tree trimming costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 AMI Deferred Revenue Requirement [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 AMI Deferred Revenue Requirement [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 AMI Deferred Revenue Requirement [Member] Maximum [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Feb. 28, 2011 AMI Deferred Revenue Requirement [Member] Maximum [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Construction carrying costs - asset [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Construction carrying costs - asset [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Fuel and purchased power [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Fuel and purchased power [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Fuel and purchased power [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Biomass costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Biomass costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	May 30, 2013 Financing costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Financing costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Financing costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Financing costs [Member] Swap [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Construction carrying costs - liability [Member] Cleco Power [Member]
Schedule of Regulatory Assets and Liabilities, Net [Line Items]
Regulatory asset - cap on actual expenditures												$ 12,000,000
Regulatory asset - cap on grossed up rate of return (in hundredths)												12.40%
Maximum amount of costs requested to expend and defer										8,000,000
Amount of construction carrying costs returned to customers																												166,000,000
Regulatory liabilities	0	8,255,000	0	8,255,000
Long-term power purchase agreement, term (in years)						3 years
Capacity and energy provided by a power purchase agreement (in MW)					730
Regulatory assets									4,299,000		5,656,000		2,907,000	1,483,000		20,000,000	1,563,000	4,697,000	9,593,000	9,593,000	7,833,000	129,000	145,000		9,957,000	7,282,000
Amortization period (in years)															P15Y		P4Y							P25Y
Gain (Loss) on the settlement of Forward Starting Interest Rate Derivative								(3,300,000)
Deferred Gain (Loss) as a Regulatory Asset on settlement of Forward Starting Interest Rate Derivative							(2,900,000)																				(2,900,000)
Percentage of total fuel cost regulated by LPSC (in hundredths)																			88.00%
Increase (decrease) in other regulatory assets																				$ 1,800,000