Fair Value - Change in Level 3 Financial Assets (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2019	Mar. 31, 2018
Fair Value, Liabilities Measured on Recurring Basis, Unobservable Input Reconciliation, Calculation [Roll Forward]
Balance	$ 9,729	$ 165,964
Settlement of natural gas fixed price forward contracts	(527)	(1,102)
Changes in fair value	(406)	7,316
Balance	8,796	172,178
Natural gas fixed price forward contract
Fair Value, Liabilities Measured on Recurring Basis, Unobservable Input Reconciliation, Calculation [Roll Forward]
Balance	9,729	15,368
Settlement of natural gas fixed price forward contracts	(527)	(1,102)
Changes in fair value	(406)	855
Balance	8,796	15,121
Preferred stock warrants
Fair Value, Liabilities Measured on Recurring Basis, Unobservable Input Reconciliation, Calculation [Roll Forward]
Balance	0	9,825
Changes in fair value	0	(3,271)
Balance	0	6,554
Embedded Derivative Liability
Fair Value, Liabilities Measured on Recurring Basis, Unobservable Input Reconciliation, Calculation [Roll Forward]
Balance	0	140,771
Changes in fair value	0	9,732
Balance	$ 0	$ 150,503

A roll forward is a reconciliation of a concept from the beginning of a period to the end of a period.

No definition available.

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

- Definition

Amount of gain (loss) recognized on the income statement for financial instrument classified as a liability measured using unobservable inputs that reflect the entity's own assumption about the assumptions market participants would use in pricing.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 820
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (c)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=99377789&loc=d3e19207-110258

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FairValueMeasurementWithUnobservableInputsReconciliationRecurringBasisLiabilityGainLossIncludedInEarnings
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of settlements of financial instrument classified as a liability measured using unobservable inputs that reflect the entity's own assumption about the assumptions market participants would use in pricing.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 820
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (c)(2)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=99377789&loc=d3e19207-110258

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FairValueMeasurementWithUnobservableInputsReconciliationRecurringBasisLiabilitySettlements
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Fair value of financial instrument classified as a liability measured using unobservable inputs that reflect the entity's own assumption about the assumptions market participants would use in pricing.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 820
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (c)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=99377789&loc=d3e19207-110258

+ Details

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

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancialInstrumentAxis=us-gaap_EnergyRelatedDerivativeMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancialInstrumentAxis=be_PreferredStockWarrantMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancialInstrumentAxis=us-gaap_EmbeddedDerivativeFinancialInstrumentsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: