Fair Value Accounting, Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures (Details) (USD $)	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Asset Description
FTRs	$ 9,020,000	$ 0
Liability Description
FTRs	382,000	0
Estimated Fair Value [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description
Institutional money market funds	36,100,000	38,840,000
FTRs	9,020,000	0
Total Assets	57,949,000	49,692,000
Liability Description
Interest Rate Derivative Liabilities	0	2,627,000
Long-term debt	1,420,048,000	1,579,674,000
FTRs	382,000	0
Total Liabilities	1,420,430,000	1,582,301,000
Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1) [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description
Institutional money market funds	0	0
FTRs	0	0
Total Assets	0	0
Liability Description
Interest Rate Derivative Liabilities	0	0
Long-term debt	0	0
FTRs	0	0
Total Liabilities	0	0
Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2) [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description
Institutional money market funds	36,100,000	38,840,000
FTRs	0	0
Total Assets	48,929,000	49,692,000
Liability Description
Interest Rate Derivative Liabilities	0	2,627,000
Long-term debt	1,420,048,000	1,579,674,000
FTRs	0	0
Total Liabilities	1,420,048,000	1,582,301,000
Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3) [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description
Institutional money market funds	0	0
FTRs	9,020,000	0
Total Assets	9,020,000	0
Liability Description
Interest Rate Derivative Liabilities	0	0
Long-term debt	0	0
FTRs	382,000	0
Total Liabilities	382,000	0
Cleco Power [Member]
Asset Description
FTRs	9,020,000	0
Liability Description
FTRs	382,000	0
Cleco Power [Member] | Estimated Fair Value [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description
Institutional money market funds	28,775,000	32,643,000
FTRs	9,020,000	0
Total Assets	50,624,000	43,495,000
Liability Description
Interest Rate Derivative Liabilities	0	2,627,000
Long-term debt	1,415,048,000	1,554,674,000
FTRs	382,000	0
Total Liabilities	1,415,430,000	1,557,301,000
Cleco Power [Member] | Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1) [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description
Institutional money market funds	0	0
FTRs	0	0
Total Assets	0	0
Liability Description
Interest Rate Derivative Liabilities	0	0
Long-term debt	0	0
FTRs	0	0
Total Liabilities	0	0
Cleco Power [Member] | Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2) [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description
Institutional money market funds	28,775,000	32,643,000
FTRs	0	0
Total Assets	41,604,000	43,495,000
Liability Description
Interest Rate Derivative Liabilities	0	2,627,000
Long-term debt	1,415,048,000	1,554,674,000
FTRs	0	0
Total Liabilities	1,415,048,000	1,557,301,000
Cleco Power [Member] | Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3) [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description
Institutional money market funds	0	0
FTRs	9,020,000	0
Total Assets	9,020,000	0
Liability Description
Interest Rate Derivative Liabilities	0	0
Long-term debt	0	0
FTRs	382,000	0
Total Liabilities	382,000	0
Cash and cash equivalents [Member]
Asset Description
Institutional money market funds	22,200,000
Cash and cash equivalents [Member] | Cleco Power [Member]
Asset Description
Institutional money market funds	14,900,000
Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents, Current [Member]
Asset Description
Institutional money market funds	8,900,000
Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents, Current [Member] | Cleco Power [Member]
Asset Description
Institutional money market funds	8,900,000
Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents, Noncurrent [Member]
Asset Description
Institutional money market funds	5,000,000
Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents, Noncurrent [Member] | Cleco Power [Member]
Asset Description
Institutional money market funds	5,000,000
Commercial Paper [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	1,483,000	649,000
Commercial Paper [Member] | Estimated Fair Value [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	1,483,000	649,000
Commercial Paper [Member] | Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1) [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	0	0
Commercial Paper [Member] | Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2) [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	1,483,000	649,000
Commercial Paper [Member] | Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3) [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	0	0
Commercial Paper [Member] | Cleco Power [Member] | Estimated Fair Value [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	1,483,000	649,000
Commercial Paper [Member] | Cleco Power [Member] | Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1) [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	0	0
Commercial Paper [Member] | Cleco Power [Member] | Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2) [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	1,483,000	649,000
Commercial Paper [Member] | Cleco Power [Member] | Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3) [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	0	0
Commercial Paper [Member] | Restricted Investement, Noncurrent [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	1,500,000
Municipal Bonds [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	9,831,000	10,203,000
Municipal Bonds [Member] | Estimated Fair Value [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	9,831,000	10,203,000
Municipal Bonds [Member] | Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1) [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	0	0
Municipal Bonds [Member] | Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2) [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	9,831,000	10,203,000
Municipal Bonds [Member] | Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3) [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	0	0
Municipal Bonds [Member] | Cleco Power [Member] | Estimated Fair Value [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	9,831,000	10,203,000
Municipal Bonds [Member] | Cleco Power [Member] | Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1) [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	0	0
Municipal Bonds [Member] | Cleco Power [Member] | Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2) [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	9,831,000	10,203,000
Municipal Bonds [Member] | Cleco Power [Member] | Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3) [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	0	0
Municipal Bonds [Member] | Restricted Investement, Noncurrent [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	9,800,000
Municipal Bonds [Member] | Restricted Investement, Noncurrent [Member] | Cleco Power [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	9,800,000
Federal agency mortgage-backed securities [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	1,000,000	0
Federal agency mortgage-backed securities [Member] | Estimated Fair Value [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	1,000,000	0
Federal agency mortgage-backed securities [Member] | Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1) [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	0	0
Federal agency mortgage-backed securities [Member] | Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2) [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	1,000,000	0
Federal agency mortgage-backed securities [Member] | Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3) [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	0	0
Federal agency mortgage-backed securities [Member] | Cleco Power [Member] | Estimated Fair Value [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	1,000,000	0
Federal agency mortgage-backed securities [Member] | Cleco Power [Member] | Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1) [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	0	0
Federal agency mortgage-backed securities [Member] | Cleco Power [Member] | Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2) [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	1,000,000	0
Federal agency mortgage-backed securities [Member] | Cleco Power [Member] | Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3) [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	0	0
Federal agency mortgage-backed securities [Member] | Restricted Investement, Noncurrent [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	1,000,000
Federal agency mortgage-backed securities [Member] | Restricted Investement, Noncurrent [Member] | Cleco Power [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	1,000,000
Corporate Bond Securities [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	515,000	0
Corporate Bond Securities [Member] | Estimated Fair Value [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	515,000	0
Corporate Bond Securities [Member] | Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1) [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	0	0
Corporate Bond Securities [Member] | Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2) [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	515,000	0
Corporate Bond Securities [Member] | Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3) [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	0	0
Corporate Bond Securities [Member] | Cleco Power [Member] | Estimated Fair Value [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	515,000	0
Corporate Bond Securities [Member] | Cleco Power [Member] | Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1) [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	0	0
Corporate Bond Securities [Member] | Cleco Power [Member] | Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2) [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	515,000	0
Corporate Bond Securities [Member] | Cleco Power [Member] | Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3) [Member] | Measured On A Recurring Basis [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	0	0
Corporate Bond Securities [Member] | Restricted Investement, Noncurrent [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	500,000
Corporate Bond Securities [Member] | Restricted Investement, Noncurrent [Member] | Cleco Power [Member]
Asset Description
Available-for-sale Securities, Debt Securities	$ 500,000
Minimum [Member] | FTRs [Member]
Liability Description
Forward Price per MWh Range	(4.88)
Maximum [Member] | FTRs [Member]
Liability Description
Forward Price per MWh Range	33.75