Property, Plant and Equipment, Net (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment in service, net	54,189	$ 54,054
Construction work-in-progress	4,798us-gaap_ConstructionInProgressGross	5,194us-gaap_ConstructionInProgressGross
Property, plant and equipment, net	58,987us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentNet	59,248us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentNet
Regulated assets [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment	71,199	71,305
Accumulated depreciation and amortization	(21,668)	(21,447)
Property, plant and equipment in service, net	49,531	49,858
Construction work-in-progress	4,400	4,300
Regulated assets [Member] \| Utility generation, distribution and transmission system [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment	64,477	64,645
Regulated assets [Member] \| Utility generation, distribution and transmission system [Member] \| Minimum [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Depreciable Life	5 years
Regulated assets [Member] \| Utility generation, distribution and transmission system [Member] \| Maximum [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Depreciable Life	80 years
Regulated assets [Member] \| Interstate pipeline assets [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment	6,722	6,660
Regulated assets [Member] \| Interstate pipeline assets [Member] \| Minimum [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Depreciable Life	3 years
Regulated assets [Member] \| Interstate pipeline assets [Member] \| Maximum [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Depreciable Life	80 years
Unregulated operation [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment	5,275	5,035
Accumulated depreciation and amortization	(617)	(839)
Property, plant and equipment in service, net	4,658	4,196
Unregulated operation [Member] \| Independent power plants [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment	4,537	4,362
Unregulated operation [Member] \| Independent power plants [Member] \| Minimum [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Depreciable Life	5 years
Unregulated operation [Member] \| Independent power plants [Member] \| Maximum [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Depreciable Life	30 years
Unregulated operation [Member] \| Other assets [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment	738	$ 673
Unregulated operation [Member] \| Other assets [Member] \| Minimum [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Depreciable Life	3 years
Unregulated operation [Member] \| Other assets [Member] \| Maximum [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Depreciable Life	30 years

The period end amount of property, plant and equipment in service, net of accumulated depreciation and amortization.

No definition available.

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Namespace Prefix:	bhe_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization for physical assets used in the normal conduct of business to produce goods and services.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 360

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 1

-Subparagraph (c)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6391035&loc=d3e2868-110229

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 210

-SubTopic 10

-Section S99

-Paragraph 1

-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.14)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher SEC

-Name Regulation S-X (SX)

-Number 210

-Section 02

-Paragraph 14

-Article 5

+ Details

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- Definition

Amount of structure or a modification to a structure under construction. Includes recently completed structures or modifications to structures that have not been placed into service.

+ References

+ Details

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- Definition

Amount before accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization of physical assets used in the normal conduct of business and not intended for resale. Examples include, but are not limited to, land, buildings, machinery and equipment, office equipment, and furniture and fixtures.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 360

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 1

-Subparagraph (b)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6391035&loc=d3e2868-110229

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 210

-SubTopic 10

-Section S99

-Paragraph 1

-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.13)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

+ Details

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- Details

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- Definition

Amount after accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization of physical assets used in the normal conduct of business to produce goods and services and not intended for resale. Examples include, but are not limited to, land, buildings, machinery and equipment, office equipment, and furniture and fixtures.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 360

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 1

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6391035&loc=d3e2868-110229

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 210

-SubTopic 10

-Section S99

-Paragraph 1

-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.13)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher SEC

-Name Regulation S-X (SX)

-Number 210

-Section 02

-Paragraph 13

-Subparagraph a

-Article 5

Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher SEC

-Name Regulation S-X (SX)

-Number 210

-Section 03

-Paragraph 8

-Article 7

+ Details

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- Definition

Useful life of long lived, physical assets used in the normal conduct of business and not intended for resale, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days. Examples include, but not limited to, land, buildings, machinery and equipment, office equipment, furniture and fixtures, and computer equipment.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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