Jointly Owned Utility Facilities - SPPC (Details) $ in Millions	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)
Jointly Owned Utility Plant Interests [Line Items]
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Gross Ownership Amount of Plant in Service	$ 9,316
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Ownership Amount of Plant Accumulated Depreciation	3,980
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Ownership Amount of Construction Work in Progress	213
Sierra Pacific Power Company [Member]
Jointly Owned Utility Plant Interests [Line Items]
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Gross Ownership Amount of Plant in Service	394
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Ownership Amount of Plant Accumulated Depreciation	212
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Ownership Amount of Construction Work in Progress	$ 2
Sierra Pacific Power Company [Member] \| Valmy [Member]
Jointly Owned Utility Plant Interests [Line Items]
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Proportionate Ownership Share	50.00%
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Gross Ownership Amount of Plant in Service	$ 382
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Ownership Amount of Plant Accumulated Depreciation	209
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Ownership Amount of Construction Work in Progress	$ 2
Sierra Pacific Power Company [Member] \| ON Line Transmission Line [Member]
Jointly Owned Utility Plant Interests [Line Items]
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Proportionate Ownership Share	1.00%
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Gross Ownership Amount of Plant in Service	$ 8
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Ownership Amount of Plant Accumulated Depreciation	1
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Ownership Amount of Construction Work in Progress	$ 0
Sierra Pacific Power Company [Member] \| Valmy Transmission Line [Member]
Jointly Owned Utility Plant Interests [Line Items]
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Proportionate Ownership Share	50.00%
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Gross Ownership Amount of Plant in Service	$ 4
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Ownership Amount of Plant Accumulated Depreciation	2
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Ownership Amount of Construction Work in Progress	$ 0

The period end amount owned by the reporting utility of a jointly owned utility plant in service.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 980
-SubTopic 360
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SAB TOPIC 10.C)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6500719&loc=d3e659983-123033

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher SEC
-Name Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB)
-Number Topic 10
-Section C

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_JointlyOwnedUtilityPlantGrossOwnershipAmountOfPlantInService
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_JointlyOwnedUtilityPlantInterestsLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The period end amount of construction work in progress at a jointly owned electricity generation plant.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_JointlyOwnedUtilityPlantOwnershipAmountOfConstructionWorkInProgress
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The period end amount of accumulated depreciation in a jointly owned electricity generation plant.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_JointlyOwnedUtilityPlantOwnershipAmountOfPlantAccumulatedDepreciation
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The proportionate share of interest (percent) in a jointly owned utility plant.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_JointlyOwnedUtilityPlantProportionateOwnershipShare
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Details

Name:	dei_LegalEntityAxis=bhe_SierraPacificPowerCompanyMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_JointlyOwnedUtilityPlantAxis=bhe_ValmyMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_JointlyOwnedUtilityPlantAxis=bhe_ONLineTransmissionLineMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_JointlyOwnedUtilityPlantAxis=bhe_ValmyTransmissionLineMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: