Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows - USD ($) $ in Thousands	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2014
Operating activities
Net income	$ 57,156	$ 62,557
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization	76,951	85,264
Unearned compensation expense	3,341	3,569
Allowance for equity funds used during construction	(1,537)	(3,660)
Net deferred income taxes	33,367	23,685
Deferred fuel costs	7,251	(25,971)
Cash surrender value of company-/trust-owned life insurance	(366)	(3,011)
Changes in assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable	(8,062)	(17,232)
Unbilled revenue	(4,866)	(16,195)
Fuel, materials and supplies inventory	4,973	(6,785)
Prepayments	1,295	2,313
Accounts payable	(27,652)	19,909
Customer deposits	6,104	8,017
Postretirement benefit obligations	6,878	4,486
Regulatory assets and liabilities, net	8,764	(4,491)
Other deferred accounts	(7,872)	(14,815)
Taxes accrued	16,959	1,777
Interest accrued	1,112	3,522
Other operating	671	2,213
Net cash provided by operating activities	174,467	125,152
Investing activities
Additions to property, plant, and equipment	(78,180)	(113,175)
Allowance for equity funds used during construction	1,537	3,660
Return of investment in company-owned life insurance	0	1,303
Premiums paid on company-/trust-owned life insurance	(1,375)	(1,635)
Equity investment in investees	(840)	0
Return of equity investment in tax credit fund	1,172	1,062
Contributions to tax credit fund	(923)	(22,364)
Transfer of cash to restricted accounts, net	(41)	(9,557)
Sale of restricted investments	0	11,138
Maturity of restricted investments	0	1,458
Other investing	459	414
Net cash used in investing activities	(78,191)	(127,696)
Financing activities
Draws on credit facility	62,000	139,000
Payments on credit facility	(87,000)	(74,000)
Repayment of long-term debt	(43,053)	(7,581)
Repurchase of common stock	0	(12,449)
Dividends paid on common stock	(48,869)	(46,608)
Other financing	(1,348)	(1,237)
Net cash used in financing activities	(118,270)	(2,875)
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents	(21,994)	(5,419)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	44,423	28,656
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	22,429	23,237
Supplementary cash flow information
Interest paid, net of amount capitalized	36,751	36,343
Income taxes paid, net	306	14,219
Supplementary non-cash investing and financing activities
Accrued additions to property, plant, and equipment	7,674	21,556
Decreases in property, plant, and equipment	227	0
Issuance of common stock – ESPP	0	148
Cleco Power [Member]
Operating activities
Net income	60,418	58,965
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization	75,591	82,139
Allowance for equity funds used during construction	(1,537)	(3,660)
Net deferred income taxes	34,583	31,493
Deferred fuel costs	7,251	(25,971)
Changes in assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable	(8,204)	(17,048)
Accounts and notes receivable, affiliate	5,857	393
Unbilled revenue	(4,866)	(16,195)
Fuel, materials and supplies inventory	4,973	(6,752)
Prepayments	(867)	2,339
Accounts payable	(22,311)	25,861
Accounts and notes payable, affiliate	(2,619)	(2,626)
Customer deposits	6,104	8,017
Postretirement benefit obligations	3,533	2,548
Regulatory assets and liabilities, net	8,764	(4,491)
Other deferred accounts	(6,409)	(10,404)
Taxes accrued	18,949	(3,072)
Interest accrued	1,099	1,210
Other operating	1,888	2,123
Net cash provided by operating activities	182,197	124,869
Investing activities
Additions to property, plant, and equipment	(78,010)	(112,627)
Allowance for equity funds used during construction	1,537	3,660
Return of investment in company-owned life insurance	0	1,303
Equity investment in investees	(840)	0
Transfer of cash to restricted accounts, net	(41)	(9,557)
Sale of restricted investments	0	11,138
Maturity of restricted investments	0	1,458
Other investing	459	412
Net cash used in investing activities	(76,895)	(104,213)
Financing activities
Draws on credit facility	20,000	112,000
Payments on credit facility	(40,000)	(57,000)
Repayment of long-term debt	(43,053)	(7,581)
Distributions to parent	(60,000)	(70,000)
Other financing	(1,348)	(1,232)
Net cash used in financing activities	(124,401)	(23,813)
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents	(19,099)	(3,157)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	39,162	21,055
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	20,063	17,898
Supplementary cash flow information
Interest paid, net of amount capitalized	36,394	36,337
Income taxes paid, net	565	255
Supplementary non-cash investing and financing activities
Accrued additions to property, plant, and equipment	7,639	21,480
Decreases in property, plant, and equipment	227	0
Coughlin [Member] | Cleco Power [Member]
Supplementary non-cash investing and financing activities
Non-cash additions to property, plant, and equipment - Coughlin	$ 0	$ 176,244