Miscellaneous Financial Information (Unaudited) (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Sep. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2013	Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2012	Mar. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011
Quarterly Information [Line Items]
Operating revenue, net	$ 263,109	$ 328,763	$ 263,894	$ 240,947	$ 233,431	$ 297,372	$ 240,123	$ 222,773	$ 1,096,714	$ 993,697	$ 1,117,313
Operating income	58,314	116,794	74,754	58,467	49,766	103,347	74,243	54,294	308,332	281,651	298,247
Net income									160,685	163,648	195,848
Net income applicable to common stock	25,112	66,407	42,032	27,133	23,112	63,818	46,686	30,031	160,685	163,648	195,710
Basic net income per average share (in dollars per share)	$ 0.42	$ 1.10	$ 0.70	$ 0.45	$ 0.38	$ 1.06	$ 0.77	$ 0.50	$ 2.66	$ 2.71	$ 3.24
Diluted net income per average common share (in dollars per share)	$ 0.41	$ 1.09	$ 0.69	$ 0.45	$ 0.38	$ 1.05	$ 0.77	$ 0.50	$ 2.65	$ 2.70	$ 3.22
Dividends paid per common share (in dollars per share)	$ 0.3625	$ 0.3625	$ 0.3625	$ 0.3375	$ 0.3375	$ 0.3375	$ 0.3125	$ 0.3125	$ 1.425	$ 1.3	$ 1.1225
Closing market price per share
High (in dollars per share)	$ 47.79	$ 50.42	$ 49.52	$ 47.17	$ 43.75	$ 45.30	$ 42.45	$ 40.10
Low (in dollars per share)	$ 43.69	$ 43.76	$ 43.75	$ 40.39	$ 38.46	$ 40.09	$ 38.16	$ 36.15
Cleco Power [Member]
Quarterly Information [Line Items]
Operating revenue, net	262,900	328,556	263,725	240,778	233,269	297,212	239,967	222,620	1,095,959	993,067	1,097,482
Operating income	60,678	111,663	72,579	61,765	54,584	97,510	76,792	58,306	306,681	287,194	304,393
Net income	26,268	61,885	34,464	27,793	24,975	57,783	37,284	26,805
Distribution to Cleco Corporation (as sole member)	$ 30,000	$ 50,000	$ 25,000	$ 0	$ 0	$ 18,000	$ 10,000	$ 30,000