Power Purchase Agreement Programs - Schedule of Consolidated Assets and Liabilities (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019	Sep. 30, 2019
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Current assets	$ 650,053	$ 472,707	$ 475,548
Long-term assets	824,306	849,884
Total assets	1,474,359	1,322,591	1,357,113
Current liabilities	259,859	236,381
Current portion of debt	129,657	337,583
Long-term liabilities	601,473	617,258
Long-term portion of debt	440,690	299,229
Total liabilities	1,431,679	1,490,451	$ 1,494,162
Bloom Energy
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Current assets	634,296	455,680
Long-term assets	504,099	508,004
Total assets	1,138,395	963,684
Current liabilities	256,886	234,328
Current portion of debt	115,658	325,428
Long-term liabilities	577,175	599,709
Long-term portion of debt	227,481	75,962
Total liabilities	1,177,200	1,235,427
PPA Entities
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Current assets	15,757	17,027
Long-term assets	320,207	341,880
Total assets	335,964	358,907
Current liabilities	2,973	2,053
Current portion of debt	13,999	12,155
Long-term liabilities	24,298	17,549
Long-term portion of debt	213,209	223,267
Total liabilities	$ 254,479	$ 255,024