Regulatory Assets and Liabilities, Summary of Regulatory Assets and Liabilities (Details) (Cleco Power [Member], USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Sep. 21, 2009	Jun. 30, 2014
Regulatory Assets and Liabilities [Line Items]
Regulatory assets	$ 324,079	$ 255,652
Total regulatory assets, net	579,379	480,956
PPA true-up [Member]
Regulatory Assets and Liabilities [Line Items]
Regulatory liabilities	(624)	0
Remaining Recovery Period of Regulatory Assets for which No Return on Investment During Recovery Period is Provided	6 months
Total investment tax credit
Regulatory Assets and Liabilities [Line Items]
Regulatory liabilities	(2,263)	(2,893)
Fuel and purchased power
Regulatory Assets and Liabilities [Line Items]
Regulatory liabilities		(3,869)
Total federal regulatory asset — income taxes
Regulatory Assets and Liabilities [Line Items]
Regulatory assets	124	12,528
Total state regulatory asset — income taxes
Regulatory Assets and Liabilities [Line Items]
Regulatory assets	106,964	89,050
AFUDC
Regulatory Assets and Liabilities [Line Items]
Regulatory assets	129,545	130,488
Total regulatory assets — deferred taxes, net
Regulatory Assets and Liabilities [Line Items]
Regulatory assets	234,370	229,173
Mining costs
Regulatory Assets and Liabilities [Line Items]
Regulatory assets	11,470	14,019
Remaining Recovery Period of Regulatory Assets for which No Return on Investment During Recovery Period is Provided	4 years 6 months
Interest costs
Regulatory Assets and Liabilities [Line Items]
Regulatory assets	5,582	5,943
Remaining Recovery Period of Regulatory Assets for which No Return on Investment During Recovery Period is Provided	25 years
AROs (1)
Regulatory Assets and Liabilities [Line Items]
Regulatory assets	1,029	936
Postretirement costs (1)
Regulatory Assets and Liabilities [Line Items]
Regulatory assets	160,903	93,333
Tree trimming costs
Regulatory Assets and Liabilities [Line Items]
Regulatory assets	8,066	4,840
Remaining Recovery Period of Regulatory Assets for which No Return on Investment During Recovery Period is Provided	4 years
Training costs
Regulatory Assets and Liabilities [Line Items]
Regulatory assets	7,019	7,175
Remaining Recovery Period of Regulatory Assets for which No Return on Investment During Recovery Period is Provided	45 years
Surcredits, net (2)
Regulatory Assets and Liabilities [Line Items]
Regulatory assets	13,587	16,738
Remaining Recovery Period of Regulatory Assets for which No Return on Investment During Recovery Period is Provided	3 years 6 months
Amended lignite mining agreement contingency (1)
Regulatory Assets and Liabilities [Line Items]
Regulatory assets	3,781	3,781
PPA capacity costs
Regulatory Assets and Liabilities [Line Items]
Regulatory assets	0	9,749
AMI deferred revenue requirement
Regulatory Assets and Liabilities [Line Items]
Regulatory assets	5,863	4,682
Remaining Recovery Period of Regulatory Assets for which No Return on Investment During Recovery Period is Provided	11 years
Production operations and maintenance expenses
Regulatory Assets and Liabilities [Line Items]
Regulatory assets	14,761	8,459	25,600
AFUDC equity gross-up (2)
Regulatory Assets and Liabilities [Line Items]
Regulatory assets	72,859	73,306
Rate case costs
Regulatory Assets and Liabilities [Line Items]
Regulatory assets	0	45
Acquisition costs or Transaction costs [Member]
Regulatory Assets and Liabilities [Line Items]
Regulatory assets	2,653	2,760
Remaining Recovery Period of Regulatory Assets for which No Return on Investment During Recovery Period is Provided	25 years
Acquisition costs or Transaction costs [Member] | Natural Gas Processing Plant [Member]
Regulatory Assets and Liabilities [Line Items]
Regulatory assets	1,060	0
Remaining Recovery Period of Regulatory Assets for which No Return on Investment During Recovery Period is Provided	35 years
Financing costs
Regulatory Assets and Liabilities [Line Items]
Regulatory assets	9,402	9,772
Biomass costs
Regulatory Assets and Liabilities [Line Items]
Regulatory assets	82	114
Remaining Recovery Period of Regulatory Assets for which No Return on Investment During Recovery Period is Provided	3 years
MISO integration costs
Regulatory Assets and Liabilities [Line Items]
Regulatory assets	3,275	0
Remaining Recovery Period of Regulatory Assets for which No Return on Investment During Recovery Period is Provided	3 years 6 months
Corporate franchise tax
Regulatory Assets and Liabilities [Line Items]
Regulatory assets	1,223	0
Remaining Recovery Period of Regulatory Assets for which No Return on Investment During Recovery Period is Provided	6 months
Acadia FRP true-up
Regulatory Assets and Liabilities [Line Items]
Regulatory assets	754	0		800
Remaining Recovery Period of Regulatory Assets for which No Return on Investment During Recovery Period is Provided	6 months
Energy efficiency
Regulatory Assets and Liabilities [Line Items]
Regulatory assets	114	0
Remaining Recovery Period of Regulatory Assets for which No Return on Investment During Recovery Period is Provided	1 year
Other
Regulatory Assets and Liabilities [Line Items]
Regulatory assets	$ 596	$ 0
Remaining Recovery Period of Regulatory Assets for which No Return on Investment During Recovery Period is Provided	2 years 6 months