Commitments and Contingencies (Tables)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2018

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Long-term Purchase Commitment [Table Text Block]

Natural gas supply commitments include natural gas contracts related to CERC’s Natural Gas Distribution and Energy Services business segments, which have various quantity requirements and durations, that are not classified as non-trading derivative assets and liabilities in CERC’s Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets as of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017 as these contracts meet an exception as “normal purchases contracts” or do not meet the definition of a derivative. Natural gas supply commitments also include natural gas transportation contracts that do not meet the definition of a derivative. As of March 31, 2018, minimum payment obligations for natural gas supply commitments are approximately:

	(in millions)
Remaining nine months of 2018	$	289
2019	311
2020	170
2021	81
2022	51
2023 and beyond	125