Annualized fee received for retained CES obligation guarantees

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- Definition

Contested amount of fines imposed by the Minnesota Office of Pipeline Safety.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

Number of sites identified where the entity may potentially have some remedial responsibility

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

Estimated Capital Expenditure to Clean Ash Ponds

+ References

No definition available.

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- Definition

Represents the absolute number of surety bonds the wholly owned subsidiary has outstanding in its role as general contractor

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

Percentage of work yet to be completed by wholly owned subsidiary on projects with open surety bonds.

+ References

No definition available.

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- Definition

Performance Guarantees & Product Warranties [Abstract]

+ References

No definition available.

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- Definition

Face amount of individual surety bonds the wholly-owned subsidiary has outstanding

+ References

No definition available.

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- Definition

Quarterly increase of fee received for retained CES guarantee exposure

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

Estimate of the reasonably possible loss exposure at an individual site.

+ References

No definition available.

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- Definition

This represents the estimated years necessary to resolve the contingency.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

Total costs accrued as of the balance sheet date for environmental loss contingencies.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 450
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- Definition

The carrying amount of a liability for an asset retirement obligation. An asset retirement obligation is a legal obligation associated with the disposal or retirement of a tangible long-lived asset that results from the acquisition, construction or development, or the normal operations of a long-lived asset, except for certain obligations of lessees.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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Balance Type:	credit
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- Definition

The current carrying amount of the liability for the freestanding or embedded guarantor's obligations under the guarantee or each group of similar guarantees.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
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-SubTopic 10
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- Definition

Maximum potential amount of future payments (undiscounted) the guarantor could be required to make under the guarantee or each group of similar guarantees before reduction for potential recoveries under recourse or collateralization provisions.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
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-SubTopic 10
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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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- References

No definition available.

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- Definition

Minimum amount of purchase arrangement maturing after the fifth fiscal year following the latest fiscal year. Includes, but not limited to, recorded and unrecorded purchase obligations, long-term purchase commitments, and short-term purchase commitments.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

Minimum amount of purchase arrangement maturing in the fifth fiscal year following the latest fiscal year. Includes, but not limited to, recorded and unrecorded purchase obligations, long-term purchase commitments, and short-term purchase commitments.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

Minimum amount of purchase arrangement maturing in the fourth fiscal year following the latest fiscal year. Includes, but not limited to, recorded and unrecorded purchase obligations, long-term purchase commitments, and short-term purchase commitments.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

Minimum amount of purchase arrangement maturing in the next fiscal year following the latest fiscal year. Includes, but not limited to, recorded and unrecorded purchase obligations, long-term purchase commitments, and short-term purchase commitments.

+ References

No definition available.

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- Definition

Minimum amount of purchase arrangement maturing in the second fiscal year following the latest fiscal year. Includes, but not limited to, recorded and unrecorded purchase obligations, long-term purchase commitments, and short-term purchase commitments.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

Minimum amount of purchase arrangement maturing in the third fiscal year following the latest fiscal year. Includes, but not limited to, recorded and unrecorded purchase obligations, long-term purchase commitments, and short-term purchase commitments.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Commitments and Contingencies (Details)	12 Months Ended
Commitments and Contingencies (Details)	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($) site	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)
Purchase Obligations
2020	$ 735,000,000
2021	605,000,000
2022	408,000,000
2023	326,000,000
2024	262,000,000
2025 and beyond	$ 1,853,000,000
Performance Guarantees & Product Warranties [Abstract]
Number of surety bond obligations outstanding	62
Performance guarantee obligations outstanding face amount	$ 565,000,000
Percentage of work yet to be completed on projects with open surety bonds	36.00%
Guarantor Obligations, Maximum Exposure, Undiscounted	$ 499,000,000
Legal, Environmental and Other Matters
Asset Retirement Obligation	$ 539,000,000	$ 258,000,000	$ 281,000,000
Indiana Gas Service Territory [Member]
Legal, Environmental and Other Matters
Environmental remediation number of sites with potential remedial responsibility \| site	26
Minnesota and Indiana Gas Service Territories [Member]
Legal, Environmental and Other Matters
Liability recorded for remediation of Minnesota sites	$ 12,000,000
Minnesota and Indiana Gas Service Territories [Member] \| Minimum [Member]
Legal, Environmental and Other Matters
Estimated remediation costs for the Minnesota sites	$ 7,000,000
Years to resolve contingency	5 years
Minnesota and Indiana Gas Service Territories [Member] \| Maximum [Member]
Legal, Environmental and Other Matters
Estimated remediation costs for the Minnesota sites	$ 51,000,000
Years to resolve contingency	50 years
Minnehaha Academy Gas Explosion [Member]
Legal, Environmental and Other Matters
Contested amount of fines imposed	$ 200,000
Indiana Electric [Member]
Legal, Environmental and Other Matters
Asset Retirement Obligation	68,000,000
Indiana Electric [Member] \| Minimum [Member]
Legal, Environmental and Other Matters
Estimated capital expenditure to clean ash ponds	60,000,000
Indiana Electric [Member] \| Maximum [Member]
Legal, Environmental and Other Matters
Estimated capital expenditure to clean ash ponds	80,000,000
CenterPoint Energy Resources Corp.
Purchase Obligations
2020	518,000,000
2021	420,000,000
2022	232,000,000
2023	173,000,000
2024	166,000,000
2025 and beyond	1,489,000,000
Legal, Environmental and Other Matters
Asset Retirement Obligation	325,000,000	$ 221,000,000	$ 243,000,000
CenterPoint Energy Resources Corp. \| Minnesota and Indiana Gas Service Territories [Member]
Legal, Environmental and Other Matters
Liability recorded for remediation of Minnesota sites	7,000,000
CenterPoint Energy Resources Corp. \| Minnesota and Indiana Gas Service Territories [Member] \| Minimum [Member]
Legal, Environmental and Other Matters
Estimated remediation costs for the Minnesota sites	$ 4,000,000
Years to resolve contingency	30 years
CenterPoint Energy Resources Corp. \| Minnesota and Indiana Gas Service Territories [Member] \| Maximum [Member]
Legal, Environmental and Other Matters
Estimated remediation costs for the Minnesota sites	$ 32,000,000
Years to resolve contingency	50 years
CenterPoint Energy Resources Corp. \| Minnehaha Academy Gas Explosion [Member]
Legal, Environmental and Other Matters
Contested amount of fines imposed	$ 200,000
CES natural gas related transactions [Member] \| Energy Services [Member]
Performance Guarantees & Product Warranties [Abstract]
Performance guarantee obligations outstanding face amount	$ 1,800,000,000
Annualized fee received for retained CES obligation guarantees	3.00%
Quarterly increase of fee received for retained CES guarantee exposure	1.00%
Guarantor Obligations, Current Carrying Value	$ 0
CES natural gas related transactions [Member] \| Energy Services [Member] \| CenterPoint Energy Resources Corp.
Performance Guarantees & Product Warranties [Abstract]
Performance guarantee obligations outstanding face amount	$ 1,800,000,000
Annualized fee received for retained CES obligation guarantees	3.00%
Quarterly increase of fee received for retained CES guarantee exposure	1.00%
Guarantor Obligations, Current Carrying Value	$ 0