Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Operating activities
Net income	$ 154,739us-gaap_ProfitLoss	$ 160,685us-gaap_ProfitLoss	$ 163,648us-gaap_ProfitLoss
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization	156,590	161,047	162,430
(Gain) loss on sale of assets	(6,224)us-gaap_GainLossOnDispositionOfAssets1	885us-gaap_GainLossOnDispositionOfAssets1	51us-gaap_GainLossOnDispositionOfAssets1
Unearned compensation expense	6,545us-gaap_ShareBasedCompensation	6,446us-gaap_ShareBasedCompensation	6,180us-gaap_ShareBasedCompensation
Allowance for equity funds used during construction	(5,380)	(4,081)	(6,711)
Net deferred income taxes	63,597us-gaap_DeferredIncomeTaxExpenseBenefit	65,989us-gaap_DeferredIncomeTaxExpenseBenefit	19,930us-gaap_DeferredIncomeTaxExpenseBenefit
Deferred fuel costs	(11,558)	5,630	(12,222)
Cash surrender value of company-/trust-owned life insurance	(3,616)	(3,669)	(3,300)
Changes in assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable	11,556	(26,357)	(11,543)
Unbilled revenue	(7,310)	(2,504)	1,468
Fuel, materials and supplies inventory	(12,147)us-gaap_IncreaseDecreaseInInventories	(18,626)us-gaap_IncreaseDecreaseInInventories	(9,539)us-gaap_IncreaseDecreaseInInventories
Prepayments	27	(3,502)	(59)
Accounts payable	4,481	(1,656)	(23,016)
Customer deposits	14,960	12,213	11,167
Postretirement benefit obligations	8,864	(24,541)	7,485
Regulatory assets and liabilities, net	(777)	(30,524)	(31,043)
Other deferred accounts	(14,691)	(5,547)	(15,695)
Taxes accrued	(22,685)	53,197	9,786
Interest accrued	(3,519)	(768)	(6,676)
Other operating	1,717	(2,627)	764
Net cash provided by operating activities	335,169	341,690	263,105
Investing activities
Additions to property, plant, and equipment	(207,636)	(188,614)	(245,033)
Allowance for equity funds used during construction	5,380	4,081	6,711
Property, plant, and equipment grants	0cnl_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentGrants	729cnl_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentGrants	16,647cnl_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentGrants
Proceeds from sale of property, plant, and equipment	9,316	1,145	1,035
Reimbursement for property loss	191	1,306	5,454
Premiums paid on company-/trust-owned life insurance	(2,831)	(3,705)	(2,973)
Return of equity investment in tax credit fund	2,579cnl_ReturnOfInvestmentTaxCreditFund	1,619cnl_ReturnOfInvestmentTaxCreditFund	37,652cnl_ReturnOfInvestmentTaxCreditFund
Contributions to tax credit fund	(55,315)	(51,011)	(59,645)
Transfer of cash (to) from restricted accounts	(10,097)	201	21,607
Purchase of restricted investments	0	(8,782)	(11,966)
Sale of restricted investments	11,138	0	0
Maturity of restricted investments	1,458	6,816	0
Other investing	(697)	(1)	1,347
Net cash used in investing activities	(246,514)	(236,216)	(229,164)
Financing activities
Draws on credit facility	254,000	228,000	25,000
Payments on credit facility	(202,000)	(228,000)	(10,000)
Issuance of long-term debt	0	160,000	50,000
Repayment of long-term debt	(14,876)us-gaap_RepaymentsOfLongTermDebt	(113,969)us-gaap_RepaymentsOfLongTermDebt	(74,368)us-gaap_RepaymentsOfLongTermDebt
Repurchase of long-term debt	0	(60,000)	0
Repurchase of common stock	(12,449)	0	(8,007)
Settlement of interest rate swap	0	(3,269)	0
Dividends paid on common stock	(95,044)us-gaap_PaymentsOfDividendsCommonStock	(86,376)us-gaap_PaymentsOfDividendsCommonStock	(78,844)us-gaap_PaymentsOfDividendsCommonStock
Other financing	(2,519)	(4,224)	(278)
Net cash used in financing activities	(72,888)	(107,838)	(96,497)
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	15,767	(2,364)	(62,556)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	28,656	31,020	93,576
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	44,423	28,656	31,020
Supplementary cash flow information
Interest paid, net of amount capitalized	74,515us-gaap_InterestPaidNet	77,296us-gaap_InterestPaidNet	80,823us-gaap_InterestPaidNet
Income taxes paid (refunded), net	15,286us-gaap_IncomeTaxesPaidNet	(47,374)us-gaap_IncomeTaxesPaidNet	(624)us-gaap_IncomeTaxesPaidNet
Supplementary non-cash investing and financing activities
Accrued additions to property, plant, and equipment	12,325	18,627	16,102
Issuance of common stock - ESPP	220us-gaap_StockIssued1	318us-gaap_StockIssued1	340us-gaap_StockIssued1
Decrease in property, plant, and equipment	47us-gaap_FairValueOfAssetsAcquired	1,280us-gaap_FairValueOfAssetsAcquired	21,559us-gaap_FairValueOfAssetsAcquired
Cleco Power [Member]
Operating activities
Net income	154,316	150,410	146,848
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization	151,252	147,452	137,053
Allowance for equity funds used during construction	(5,380)	(4,081)	(6,711)
Net deferred income taxes	82,315	81,534	57,364
Deferred fuel costs	(11,558)	5,630	(12,222)
Changes in assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable	11,689	(26,491)	(12,290)
Unbilled revenue	(7,310)	(2,504)	1,468
Fuel, materials and supplies inventory	(12,114)	(18,539)	(9,361)
Accounts payable	5,459	(848)	(22,874)
Accounts and notes payable, affiliate	(2,749)	(3,403)	(122)
Customer deposits	14,960	12,213	11,167
Postretirement benefit obligations	4,963	(28,306)	5,947
Regulatory assets and liabilities, net	(777)	(30,524)	(31,043)
Other deferred accounts	(10,798)	(8,212)	(19,989)
Taxes accrued	(26,373)	5,372	4,503
Interest accrued	(4,364)	(304)	(5,431)
Other operating	3,541	5	(207)
Net cash provided by operating activities	347,072	279,404	244,100
Investing activities
Additions to property, plant, and equipment	(206,607)	(181,154)	(238,943)
Allowance for equity funds used during construction	5,380	4,081	6,711
Property, plant, and equipment grants	0	729	16,647
Transfer of cash (to) from restricted accounts	(10,097)	125	21,607
Purchase of restricted investments	0	(8,782)	(11,966)
Sale of restricted investments	11,138	0	0
Maturity of restricted investments	1,458	6,816	0
Other investing	2,153	2,367	2,387
Net cash used in investing activities	(196,575)	(175,818)	(203,557)
Financing activities
Draws on credit facility	157,000	180,000	0
Payments on credit facility	(157,000)	(160,000)	0
Issuance of long-term debt	0	160,000	50,000
Repayment of long-term debt	(14,876)	(113,969)	(74,368)
Repurchase of long-term debt	0	(60,000)	0
Settlement of interest rate swap	0	(3,269)	0
Distribution to parent	(115,000)	(105,000)	(58,000)
Other financing	(2,514)	(3,661)	(2,265)
Net cash used in financing activities	(132,390)	(105,899)	(84,633)
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	18,107	(2,313)	(44,090)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	21,055	23,368	67,458
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	39,162	21,055	23,368
Supplementary cash flow information
Interest paid, net of amount capitalized	74,326	77,079	80,729
Income taxes paid (refunded), net	257	(456)	(711)
Supplementary non-cash investing and financing activities
Accrued additions to property, plant, and equipment	12,225	18,414	15,547
Decrease in property, plant, and equipment	47	1,280	21,559
ARO [Member]
Supplementary non-cash investing and financing activities
Non-cash additions to property, plant, and equipment	4,400	0	0
ARO [Member] \| Cleco Power [Member]
Supplementary non-cash investing and financing activities
Non-cash additions to property, plant, and equipment	4,400	0	0
Coughlin [Member] \| Cleco Power [Member]
Supplementary non-cash investing and financing activities
Non-cash additions to property, plant, and equipment	$ 176,244	$ 0	$ 0

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Cash inflow due to change during the period in the allowance for other funds used during construction classified as an investing activity.

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Future cash outflow to pay for purchases of fixed assets that have occurred.

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Amount of currency on hand as well as demand deposits with banks or financial institutions. Includes other kinds of accounts that have the general characteristics of demand deposits. Also includes short-term, highly liquid investments that are both readily convertible to known amounts of cash and so near their maturity that they present insignificant risk of changes in value because of changes in interest rates. Excludes cash and cash equivalents within disposal group and discontinued operation.

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Amount of deferred income tax expense (benefit) pertaining to income (loss) from continuing operations.

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Amount of gain (loss) on sale or disposal of assets, including but not limited to property plant and equipment, intangible assets and equity in securities of subsidiaries or equity method investee.

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The increase (decrease) during the reporting period in the amount due to fund pension and non-pension benefits to employees, retired and disabled former employees.

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The amount of cash paid for interest during the period net of cash paid for interest that is capitalized.

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The change in cash surrender or contract value during the period which adjusted the amount of premiums paid in determining the expense or income recognized under the contract for the period.

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Amount of cash inflow (outflow) of financing activities, excluding discontinued operations. Financing activity cash flows include obtaining resources from owners and providing them with a return on, and a return of, their investment; borrowing money and repaying amounts borrowed, or settling the obligation; and obtaining and paying for other resources obtained from creditors on long-term credit.

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Amount of cash inflow (outflow) of investing activities, excluding discontinued operations. Investing activity cash flows include making and collecting loans and acquiring and disposing of debt or equity instruments and property, plant, and equipment and other productive assets.

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The net cash outflow or inflow for a financial contract that meets the hedge criteria as either cash flow hedge, fair value hedge or hedge of net investment in foreign operations.

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The net cash outflow or inflow from other investing activities. This element is used when there is not a more specific and appropriate element in the taxonomy.

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The cash outflow to reacquire common stock during the period.

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The distributions of earnings to an entity that is affiliated with the reporting entity by means of direct or indirect ownership.

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Amount of cash outflow in the form of ordinary dividends to common shareholders of the parent entity.

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The cash outflow to acquire debt and equity securities not classified as either held-to-maturity securities or trading securities which would be classified as available-for-sale securities and reported at fair value, with unrealized gains and losses excluded from earnings and reported in a separate component of shareholders' equity.

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The cash outflow for payments to purchase life insurance policies for which the entity is the beneficiary.

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The cash outflow associated with other investments held by the entity for investment purposes not otherwise defined in the taxonomy.

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The cash outflow associated with the acquisition of long-lived, physical assets that are used in the normal conduct of business to produce goods and services and not intended for resale; includes cash outflows to pay for construction of self-constructed assets.

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The cash inflow from the amounts received by the insured under the terms of an insurance contract settlement. This element pertains only to insurance proceeds related to investments, for example fixed assets. It excludes insurance settlements classified as operating cash flows.

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The cash inflow from a debt initially having maturity due after one year or beyond the operating cycle, if longer.

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The cash inflow from a contractual arrangement with the lender, including letter of credit, standby letter of credit and revolving credit arrangements, under which borrowings can be made up to a specific amount at any point in time with maturities due beyond one year or the operating cycle, if longer.

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The net cash inflow or outflow from other financing activities. This element is used when there is not a more specific and appropriate element in the taxonomy.

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The cash inflow associated with the sale or maturity (principal being due) of securities not classified as either held-to-maturity securities or trading securities which are classified as available-for-sale securities.

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The cash inflow from the sale of long-lived, physical assets that are used in the normal conduct of business to produce goods and services and not intended for resale.

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The cash inflow associated with the sale of investments that are pledged or subject to withdrawal restrictions during the period.

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The consolidated profit or loss for the period, net of income taxes, including the portion attributable to the noncontrolling interest.

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Total increase in earnings in the period representing the cost of equity (based on assumed rate of return) and/or borrowed funds (based on interest rate) used to finance construction of regulated assets, which is expected to be recovered through rate adjustments.

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The cash outflow for debt initially having maturity due after one year or beyond the normal operating cycle, if longer.

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The cash outflow for the settlement of obligation drawn from a contractual arrangement with the lender, including letter of credit, standby letter of credit and revolving credit arrangements, under which borrowings can be made up to a specific amount at any point in time with maturities due beyond one year or the operating cycle, if longer.

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The cash outflow from settlement of a long-term debt security issued by a state, certain agencies or authorities, a local government, or development corporation to finance the construction of air- or water-pollution control facilities or sewage or solid waste disposal facilities pursuant to federal law. The bonds are backed by the credit of the beneficiary of the financing rather than the credit of the issuer.

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The aggregate amount of noncash, equity-based employee remuneration. This may include the value of stock or unit options, amortization of restricted stock or units, and adjustment for officers' compensation. As noncash, this element is an add back when calculating net cash generated by operating activities using the indirect method.

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The fair value of stock issued in noncash financing activities.

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