Litigation, Other Commitments and Contingencies, and Disclosures about Guarantees, Disclosures about Guarantees (Details) (USD $)					3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended						3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2013 Performance Guarantee [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Financial Guarantee [Member]	Jan. 31, 2006 Financial Guarantee [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Acadia Unit 1 Transaction [Member] Guarantee Issued to Cleco Power on behalf of Acadia [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Acadia Unit 1 Transaction [Member] Guarantee Issued to Cleco Power on behalf of Acadia [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Acadia Unit 1 Transaction [Member] Guarantee Issued to Cleco Power on behalf of Acadia [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Acadia Unit 1 Transaction [Member] Guarantee Issued to Cleco Power on behalf of Acadia [Member]	Feb. 28, 2010 Acadia Unit 1 Transaction [Member] Guarantee Issued to Cleco Power on behalf of Acadia [Member]	Feb. 23, 2010 Acadia Unit 1 Transaction [Member] Guarantee Issued to Cleco Power on behalf of Acadia [Member]	Feb. 28, 2010 Acadia Unit 1 Transaction [Member] Cleco Power [Member] Guarantee Issued to Cleco Power on behalf of Acadia [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Acadia Unit 1 Transaction [Member] Maximum [Member] Guarantee Issued to Cleco Power on behalf of Acadia [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Acadia Unit 2 Transaction [Member] Guarantee Issued to Cleco Power on behalf of Acadia [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Acadia Unit 2 Transaction [Member] Guarantee Issued to Cleco Power on behalf of Acadia [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Acadia Unit 2 Transaction [Member] Guarantee Issued to Cleco Power on behalf of Acadia [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Acadia Unit 2 Transaction [Member] Guarantee Issued to Cleco Power on behalf of Acadia [Member]	Apr. 29, 2011 Acadia Unit 2 Transaction [Member] Guarantee Issued to Cleco Power on behalf of Acadia [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Lignite Mining Agreement Guarantee [Member] Cleco Power [Member] Financial Guarantee [Member]
Disclosures about Guarantees [Abstract]
Liability recognized on the balance sheets	$ 4,956,000	$ 200,000											$ 900,000		$ 900,000			$ 3,800,000
Guarantor Obligations, Maximum Exposure, Undiscounted	4,225,000	42,400,000	500,000						10,000,000		30,000,000		298,800,000		298,800,000			72,500,000
Guarantees, Fair Value Disclosure										13,500,000							21,800,000
Guarantor Obligations, Period					3 years								3 years
Maximum residual value of indemnification obligation												100,000	200,000		200,000
Income from contractual expiration of indemnification					0	0	300,000	7,200,000					6,900,000	11,800,000	6,900,000	11,800,000
Off-balance sheet commitments, expected termination dates [Abstract]
Net amount	4,225,000		500,000	500,000
Less than 1 year	3,725,000
1-3 years	0
3-5 years	0
More than 5 years	500,000
On-balance sheet guarantees, expected termination dates [Abstract]
Net amount committed	4,956,000	200,000											900,000		900,000			3,800,000
Less than 1 year	950,000
1-3 years	0
3-5 years	0
More than 5 years	4,006,000
Total off-balance sheet commitments and on-balance sheet guarantees, expected termination dates [Abstract]
Total net amount committed	9,181,000
Total less than 1 year	4,675,000
Total 1-3 years	0
Total 3-5 years	0
Total more than 5 years	$ 4,506,000