Litigation, Other Commitments and Contingencies, and Disclosures about Guarantees, Disclosures about Guarantees (Details) (USD $)	1 Months Ended	6 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2013
2004 sale of Perryville facility [Member] | Performance Guarantee [Member]
Disclosures about Guarantees [Abstract]
Guarantor Obligations, Maximum Exposure, Undiscounted		$ 42,400,000
Acadia Unit 2 Transaction [Member] | Guarantee Issued to Cleco Power on behalf of Acadia [Member]
Disclosures about Guarantees [Abstract]
Guarantees, Fair Value Disclosure	21,800,000
Guarantor Obligations, Term (in years)	P3Y
Maximum residual value of indemnification obligation		200,000
Income from contractual expiration of indemnification		700,000	6,900,000
Off-balance sheet commitments [Member]
Disclosures about Guarantees [Abstract]
Guarantor Obligations, Maximum Exposure, Undiscounted		6,225,000
Amount of Commitment Expiration Per Period [Abstract]
Less than one year		0
1-3 Years		0
3-5 Years		0
More than 5 years		6,225,000
Total		6,225,000
On-balance sheet guarantees [Member]
Amount of Commitment Expiration Per Period [Abstract]
Less than one year		180,000
1-3 Years		0
3-5 Years		0
More than 5 years		3,781,000
Total		3,961,000
Off-balance sheet commitment and on-balance sheet guarantees [Member]
Amount of Commitment Expiration Per Period [Abstract]
Less than one year		180,000
1-3 Years		0
3-5 Years		0
More than 5 years		10,006,000
Total		10,186,000
Cleco Power [Member] | Lignite Mining Agreement Guarantee [Member] | Financial Guarantee [Member]
Disclosures about Guarantees [Abstract]
Guarantor Obligations, Maximum Exposure, Undiscounted		98,100,000
Guarantor Obligations, Current Carrying Value		$ 3,800,000