Electric Customer Credits (Details) (USD $)					125 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2013 Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Cleco Power [Member]	Jun. 30, 2020 Cleco Power [Member] Louisiana Public Service Commission [Member] 2010 FRP [Member]	Jun. 26, 2013 Cleco Power [Member] Louisiana Public Service Commission [Member] 2012 FRP Monitoring Report [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Cleco Power [Member] Louisiana Public Service Commission [Member] 2012 FRP Monitoring Report [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Cleco Power [Member] Louisiana Public Service Commission [Member] 2013 FRP Monitoring Report [Member]
Public Utilities, General Disclosures [Line Items]
Target return on equity allowed by FRP (in thousandths)					10.70%
Percentage of retail earnings within range to be returned to customers (in hundredths)					60.00%
Return on equity for customer credit, low range (in thousandths)					11.30%
Return on equity for customer credit, high range (in thousandths)					12.30%
Total customer credits						$ 2,400,000	$ 1,700,000	$ 2,200,000
Provision for rate refund	$ 2,967,000	$ 4,165,000	$ 2,967,000	$ 4,165,000