Regulatory Assets and Liabilities, Summary of Regulatory Assets and Liabilities (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified								12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended					12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended						12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended												1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2013 Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Deferred fuel and purchased power [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Total regulatory assets - other [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Total regulatory assets - other [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Biomass costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Biomass costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Deferred Financing costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Deferred Financing costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Deferred AMI pilot costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Deferred AMI pilot costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Deferred IRP/ RFP costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Deferred IRP/ RFP costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Deferred Acadia Unit 1 acquisition costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Deferred Acadia Unit 1 acquisition costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Deferred rate case costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Deferred rate case costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 AFUDC equity gross-up [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 AFUDC equity gross-up [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 AMI Deferred Revenue Requirement [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 AMI Deferred Revenue Requirement [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Production O&M Expenses [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Production O&M Expenses [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Sep. 21, 2009 Production O&M Expenses [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 PowerPurchaseAgreementCapacityCosts [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 PowerPurchaseAgreementCapacityCosts [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Amended lignite mining agreement contingency [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Amended lignite mining agreement contingency [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Deferred construction carrying costs - asset [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Deferred construction carrying costs - asset [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Deferred surcredits, net [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Deferred surcredits, net [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Deferred training costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Deferred training costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Deferred tree trimming costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Deferred tree trimming costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Pension Costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Pension Costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Asset Retirement Obligation Costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Asset Retirement Obligation Costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Deferred interest costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Deferred interest costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Deferred mining costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Deferred mining costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Deferred Income Tax Charge [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Deferred Income Tax Charge [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 AFUDC [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 AFUDC [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Total state regulatory asset - income taxes [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Total state regulatory asset - income taxes [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Total federal regulatory asset - income taxes [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Total federal regulatory asset - income taxes [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Total investment tax credit [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Total investment tax credit [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Feb. 28, 2006 Deferred construction carrying costs - liability [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Deferred construction carrying costs - liability [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Deferred construction carrying costs - liability [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Deferred fuel and purchased power [Member] Cleco Power [Member]
Schedule of Regulatory Assets and Liabilities, Net [Line Items]
Percentage of jurisdictional portion of construction carrying costs authorized to be collected from customers (in hundredths)																																																									75.00%
Regulatory assets					$ 7,833	$ 255,652	$ 300,665	$ 114	$ 145	$ 9,772	$ 7,282	$ 0	$ 22	$ 0	$ 39	$ 2,760	$ 2,865	$ 45	$ 581	$ 73,306	$ 74,158	$ 4,682	$ 1,483	$ 8,459	$ 0	$ 25,600	$ 9,749	$ 6,217	$ 3,781	$ 3,781	$ 0	$ 4,697	$ 16,738	$ 6,211	$ 7,175	$ 7,330	$ 4,840	$ 5,656	$ 93,333	$ 156,458	$ 936	$ 867	$ 5,943	$ 6,304	$ 14,019	$ 16,569			$ 130,488	$ 132,267	$ 89,050	$ 57,480	$ 12,528	$ 24,222
Remaining Recovery Period of Regulatory Assets for which No Return on Investment During Recovery Period is Provided								4 years				0 years		0 years		26 years		0 years				14 years					1 year 6 months				0 years		9 years		46 years		5 years						26 years		5 years 6 months													0 years
Regulatory liabilities																																																							(2,893)	(3,524)		0	(8,255)	(3,869)
Total regulatory assets-other			480,956	510,688
Regulatory assets and liabilities - deferred taxes, net	$ 229,173	$ 210,445	$ 229,173	$ 210,445																																											$ 229,173	$ 210,445