Summary of Significant Accounting Policies Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, AFUDC (Details) (Cleco Power [Member])	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011
Cleco Power [Member]
Public Utilities, General Disclosures [Line Items]
Composite AFUDC rate, pre-tax	11.60%	12.10%	12.00%
Composite AFUDC rate, net of tax	7.20%	7.50%	7.50%

Disclosure of the effective rate, net of tax, for the period representing (a) total additions to qualifying regulated assets for allowance for funds used during construction, (b) divided by the sum of debt and equity funds used for construction.

No definition available.

Name:	cnl_PublicUtilitiesAllowanceForFundsUsedDuringConstructionRateNetOfTax
Namespace Prefix:	cnl_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration