Long-term Debt (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity	$ 300	$ 300
General mortgage bonds used as collateral	408	408
CenterPoint Energy [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Collateralized Debt Held For Future Remarketing	290	290
Revolving Credit Facility [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Loans Outstanding	0	0
Letter of Credit [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Loans Outstanding	$ 4	$ 4
Line of Credit [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Percentage on limitation of debt to total capitalization under covenant	65.00%
Line of Credit [Member] \| London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Interest Rate Description	1.125%

Represents the amount of collateralized debt held for future remarketing

No definition available.

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- Definition

General mortgage bonds used as collateral

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

Percentage on limitation of debt to total capitalization under covenant.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

Percentage points added to the reference rate to compute the variable rate on the debt instrument.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- 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

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- Definition

The carrying value as of the balance sheet date of the current and noncurrent portions of long-term obligations drawn from a line of credit, which is a bank's commitment to make loans up to a specific amount. Examples of items that might be included in the application of this element may consist of letters of credit, standby letters of credit, and revolving credit arrangements, under which borrowings can be made up to a maximum amount as of any point in time conditional on satisfaction of specified terms before, as of and after the date of drawdowns on the line. Includes short-term obligations that would normally be classified as current liabilities but for which (a) postbalance sheet date issuance of a long term obligation to refinance the short term obligation on a long term basis, or (b) the enterprise has entered into a financing agreement that clearly permits the enterprise to refinance the short-term obligation on a long term basis and the following conditions are met (1) the agreement does not expire within 1 year and is not cancelable by the lender except for violation of an objectively determinable provision, (2) no violation exists at the BS date, and (3) the lender has entered into the financing agreement is expected to be financially capable of honoring the agreement.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.9-03.16)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6876686&loc=d3e534808-122878

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.7-03.16)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6879938&loc=d3e572229-122910

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher SEC
-Name Regulation S-X (SX)
-Number 210
-Section 02
-Paragraph 19, 20, 22
-Article 5

+ Details

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- Definition

Maximum borrowing capacity under the credit facility without consideration of any current restrictions on the amount that could be borrowed or the amounts currently outstanding under the facility.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.19(b),22(b))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

+ Details

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- Details

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- Details

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- Details

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