Held for Sale and Divestitures (CenterPoint Energy and CERC) - Summary of Discontinued Operations (Details)				3 Months Ended		11 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Feb. 18, 2022	Jun. 01, 2020 USD ($)	Apr. 09, 2020 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2022 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2021 USD ($)	Dec. 02, 2021 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2022 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2021 USD ($) $ / shares	Dec. 31, 2020 USD ($) $ / shares	Aug. 31, 2021 state	Mar. 31, 2020 USD ($)
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Income Statement Disclosures [Abstract]
Income tax expense (benefit)							$ 0	$ 201,000,000	$ (333,000,000)
CenterPoint Energy’s equity in earnings (losses), net before income taxes							0	339,000,000	(1,428,000,000)
Discontinued Operation, Alternative Cash Flow Information [Abstract]
Gain on Enable Merger							303,000,000	681,000,000	0
Distributions from unconsolidated affiliates							0	155,000,000	113,000,000
Proceeds from Divestiture of Businesses							2,075,000,000	22,000,000	1,215,000,000
Distributions from unconsolidated affiliates in excess of cumulative earnings							0	0	80,000,000
Current assets							0	2,338,000,000
Current liabilities							0	562,000,000
Revenues							9,321,000,000	8,352,000,000	7,418,000,000
Goodwill impairment				$ 0	$ 0		0	0	185,000,000
Net income attributable to Enable Common Units							1,008,000,000	1,391,000,000	(949,000,000)
CERC Corp
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Income Statement Disclosures [Abstract]
Income tax expense (benefit)							0	0	(2,000,000)
Net income (loss) from Discontinued Operations							0	0	(66,000,000)
Discontinued Operation, Alternative Cash Flow Information [Abstract]
Proceeds from Divestiture of Businesses							2,075,000,000	22,000,000	365,000,000
Natural gas expenses, including transportation and storage costs							115,000,000	0	23,000,000
Current assets							0	2,084,000,000
Current liabilities							0	562,000,000
Revenues							$ 4,800,000,000	4,200,000,000	3,531,000,000
Infrastructure Services Disposal Group
Discontinued Operation, Alternative Cash Flow Information [Abstract]
Proceeds from Divestiture of Businesses			$ 850,000,000
Goodwill impairment									82,000,000
Discontinued Operation, Continuing Involvement [Abstract]
Pipeline construction and repair services capitalized									34,000,000
Pipeline construction and repair service charges in operations and maintenance expense									1,000,000
Infrastructure Services Disposal Group | Level 2
Discontinued Operation, Continuing Involvement [Abstract]
Fair value of disposal group											$ 864,000,000
Infrastructure Services Disposal Group | CERC Corp
Discontinued Operation, Continuing Involvement [Abstract]
Pipeline construction and repair services capitalized									0
Pipeline construction and repair service charges in operations and maintenance expense									1,000,000
Energy Services Disposal Group
Discontinued Operation, Alternative Cash Flow Information [Abstract]
Proceeds from Divestiture of Businesses		$ 286,000,000
Goodwill impairment									62,000,000
Discontinued Operation, Continuing Involvement [Abstract]
Transportation revenue									34,000,000
Natural gas expense									48,000,000
Energy Services Disposal Group | Level 2
Discontinued Operation, Continuing Involvement [Abstract]
Fair value of disposal group											$ 402,000,000
Energy Services Disposal Group | CERC Corp
Discontinued Operation, Alternative Cash Flow Information [Abstract]
Goodwill impairment									62,000,000
Discontinued Operation, Continuing Involvement [Abstract]
Transportation revenue									34,000,000
Natural gas expense									47,000,000
MES
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Number of states | state										48
Discontinued Operations
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Income Statement Disclosures [Abstract]
Income (loss) from discontinued operations before income taxes									(1,391,000,000)
Income tax expense (benefit)									(333,000,000)
Net income (loss) from Discontinued Operations									(1,256,000,000)
Revenues									1,417,000,000
Non-utility cost of revenues									1,158,000,000
Operation and maintenance									218,000,000
Taxes other than income taxes									4,000,000
Total									1,380,000,000
Operating income									37,000,000
CenterPoint Energy’s equity in earnings (losses), net before income taxes									(1,428,000,000)
Loss on classification to held for sale, net									(198,000,000)
Discontinued Operations | Enable Midstream Partners
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Income Statement Disclosures [Abstract]
Equity in earnings of unconsolidated affiliate, net								1,019,000,000
Income (loss) from discontinued operations before income taxes								1,019,000,000	(1,428,000,000)
Income tax expense (benefit)								201,000,000	(354,000,000)
Net income (loss) from Discontinued Operations								818,000,000	(1,074,000,000)
Revenues									0
Non-utility cost of revenues									0
Operation and maintenance									0
Taxes other than income taxes									0
Total									0
Operating income									0
CenterPoint Energy’s equity in earnings (losses), net before income taxes						$ 1,019,000,000		339,000,000	(1,428,000,000)
Loss on classification to held for sale, net									0
Impairment charge on investment									1,541,000,000
Impairment on equity method investment									225,000,000
Discontinued Operation, Alternative Cash Flow Information [Abstract]
Gain on Enable Merger						680,000,000		681,000,000	0
Distributions from unconsolidated affiliates								155,000,000	113,000,000
Transaction costs related to the Enable Merger								(49,000,000)
Proceeds from Divestiture of Businesses								5,000,000
Write-down of natural gas inventory									0
Capital expenditures									0
Distributions from unconsolidated affiliates in excess of cumulative earnings									80,000,000
Cash Distribution								189,000,000	$ 229,000,000
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operations, Annual Distribution Rate									10.00%
Natural gas expenses, including transportation and storage costs								85,000,000	$ 86,000,000
Current assets						594,000,000
Non-current assets						11,227,000,000
Current liabilities						1,254,000,000
Non-current liabilities						3,281,000,000
Non-controlling interest						26,000,000
Preferred equity						362,000,000
Accumulated other comprehensive loss						(1,000,000)
Enable partners’ equity						6,899,000,000
CenterPoint Energy’s ownership interest in Enable partners’ equity						3,701,000,000
CenterPoint Energy’s basis difference						(2,732,000,000)
CenterPoint energy’s equity method investment in enable						969,000,000
Revenues						3,466,000,000			2,463,000,000
Cost of sales, excluding depreciation and amortization						1,959,000,000			965,000,000
Depreciation and amortization						382,000,000			420,000,000
Goodwill impairment						0			28,000,000
Operating income						634,000,000			465,000,000
Net income attributable to Enable Common Units						461,000,000			52,000,000
CenterPoint Energy’s interest						248,000,000			28,000,000
Basis difference amortization						92,000,000			87,000,000
Loss on dilution, net of proportional basis difference recognition						(1,000,000)			(2,000,000)
Impairment of CenterPoint Energy’s equity method investment in Enable						$ 0			(1,541,000,000)
Discontinued Operations | Enable Midstream Partners | London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR)
Discontinued Operation, Alternative Cash Flow Information [Abstract]
Basis spread (as a percent)	8.50%
Discontinued Operations | Enable Midstream Partners | CERC Corp
Discontinued Operation, Alternative Cash Flow Information [Abstract]
Natural gas expenses, including transportation and storage costs								$ 85,000,000	$ 86,000,000
Discontinued Operations | Enable Midstream Partners | Enable Common Units
Discontinued Operation, Alternative Cash Flow Information [Abstract]
Distribution received (in dollars per unit) | $ / shares								$ 0.6610	$ 0.8263
Cash Distribution								$ 155,000,000	$ 193,000,000
Discontinued Operations | Enable Midstream Partners | Enable Series A Preferred Units
Discontinued Operation, Alternative Cash Flow Information [Abstract]
Distribution received (in dollars per unit) | $ / shares								$ 2.2965	$ 2.5000
Cash Distribution								$ 34,000,000	$ 36,000,000
Discontinued Operations | Infrastructure Services Disposal Group
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Income Statement Disclosures [Abstract]
Income (loss) from discontinued operations before income taxes									15,000,000
Income tax expense (benefit)									24,000,000
Net income (loss) from Discontinued Operations									(111,000,000)
Revenues									250,000,000
Non-utility cost of revenues									50,000,000
Operation and maintenance									184,000,000
Taxes other than income taxes									1,000,000
Total									235,000,000
Operating income									15,000,000
CenterPoint Energy’s equity in earnings (losses), net before income taxes									0
Loss on classification to held for sale, net									(102,000,000)
Discontinued Operation, Alternative Cash Flow Information [Abstract]
Distributions from unconsolidated affiliates									0
Write-down of natural gas inventory									0
Capital expenditures									18,000,000
Distributions from unconsolidated affiliates in excess of cumulative earnings									0
Discontinued Operations | Energy Services Disposal Group
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Income Statement Disclosures [Abstract]
Income (loss) from discontinued operations before income taxes									22,000,000
Income tax expense (benefit)									(3,000,000)
Net income (loss) from Discontinued Operations									(71,000,000)
Revenues									1,167,000,000
Non-utility cost of revenues									1,108,000,000
Operation and maintenance									34,000,000
Taxes other than income taxes									3,000,000
Total									1,145,000,000
Operating income									22,000,000
CenterPoint Energy’s equity in earnings (losses), net before income taxes									0
Loss on classification to held for sale, net									(96,000,000)
Discontinued Operation, Alternative Cash Flow Information [Abstract]
Distributions from unconsolidated affiliates									0
Write-down of natural gas inventory									3,000,000
Capital expenditures									3,000,000
Distributions from unconsolidated affiliates in excess of cumulative earnings									0
Discontinued Operations | Energy Services Disposal Group | CERC Corp
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Income Statement Disclosures [Abstract]
Income (loss) from discontinued operations before income taxes									22,000,000
Income tax expense (benefit)									(2,000,000)
Net income (loss) from Discontinued Operations									(66,000,000)
Revenues									1,167,000,000
Non-utility cost of revenues									1,108,000,000
Operation and maintenance									34,000,000
Taxes other than income taxes									3,000,000
Total									1,145,000,000
Loss on classification to held for sale, net									(90,000,000)
Discontinued Operation, Alternative Cash Flow Information [Abstract]
Write-down of natural gas inventory									3,000,000
Capital expenditures									$ 3,000,000