Pension Plan and Employee Benefits, SERP (Details) (SERP Benefits [Member], USD $)	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2013
Components of periodic benefit costs
Service cost	$ 671,000	$ 521,000	$ 1,139,000	$ 1,028,000
Interest cost	789,000	612,000	1,514,000	1,289,000
Prior period service cost	15,000	13,000	27,000	27,000
Net loss	552,000	616,000	937,000	1,152,000
Net periodic benefit cost	2,027,000	1,762,000	3,617,000	3,496,000
Curent portion of SERP liability	2,700,000		2,700,000		2,700,000
Cleco Power [Member]
Components of periodic benefit costs
Net periodic benefit cost	500,000	400,000	900,000	800,000
Curent portion of SERP liability	$ 900,000		$ 900,000		$ 700,000