Document And Entity Information - shares	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2017	Apr. 30, 2017
Document and Entity Information [Line Items]
Document Type	10-Q
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Mar. 31, 2017
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2017
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q1
Trading Symbol	ee
Entity Registrant Name	EL PASO ELECTRIC CO /TX/
Entity Central Index Key	0000031978
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		40,557,782