Litigation, Other Commitments and Contingencies, and Disclosures about Guarantees, Litigation (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended				1 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013 Discrimiation Complaint [Member] employee	Dec. 31, 2010 Discrimiation Complaint [Member] Minimum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2009 Discrimiation Complaint [Member] Minimum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Other Litigation Matters [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Cleco Power [Member]	Nov. 11, 2011 Cleco Power [Member]	May 11, 2010 Cleco Power [Member] City of Opelousas Litigation [Member] resident	Mar. 09, 2010 Cleco Power [Member] City of Opelousas Litigation [Member] claim	Mar. 31, 2010 Cleco Power [Member] City of Opelousas Litigation [Member] Minimum [Member]	Mar. 31, 2010 Customer [Member] Cleco Power [Member] City of Opelousas Litigation [Member] customer
Litigation [Abstract]
Number of plaintiffs							249
Loss Contingency, Damages Sought, Value		$ 2,500,000	$ 35,000,000						$ 30,000,000
Loss Contingency, Number of Plaintiffs	1									3
Number of pending claims								2
Amount owed as result of alleged overcharges				10,300,000
Fuel expenses included in audit					3,260,000,000
Cost disallowance in audit, excluding interest					400,000
Customer fuel credit refund, excluding interest					400,000
Environmental expenses included in audit						$ 11,300,000