Litigation, Other Commitments and Contingencies, and Disclosures about Guarantees, Litigation (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended			1 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013 Discrimination Complaint [Member] employee	Sep. 30, 2013 Other Litigation Matters [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Minimum [Member] Discrimination Complaint [Member]	Dec. 31, 2009 Minimum [Member] Discrimination Complaint [Member]	Mar. 09, 2010 Cleco Power [Member] City of Opelousas Litigation [Member] claim resident	Mar. 31, 2010 Cleco Power [Member] Minimum [Member] City of Opelousas Litigation [Member]	Mar. 31, 2010 Cleco Power [Member] Customer [Member] City of Opelousas Litigation [Member] customer
Litigation [Abstract]
Loss contingency, damages sought, minimum amount			$ 2.5	$ 35.0		$ 30.0
Loss contingency, number of plaintiffs (in ones)	2						3
Number of residents in second class action lawsuit (in ones)					249
Number of class action law suits (in ones)					2
Amount of estimated loss		$ 8.9