Litigation, Other Commitments and Contingencies, and Disclosures about Guarantees, Disclosures about Guarantees (Details) (USD $)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2014	Sep. 30, 2013	Apr. 30, 2011
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
Income from contractual expiration of indemnification	900,000	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	0
1-3 Years	0
3-5 Years	0
More than 5 years	3,781,000
Total	3,781,000
Off-balance sheet commitment and on-balance sheet guarantees [Member]
Amount of Commitment Expiration Per Period [Abstract]
Less than one year	0
1-3 Years	0
3-5 Years	0
More than 5 years	10,006,000
Total	10,006,000
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