Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies (Narrative) (Details) $ in Thousands	1 Months Ended			3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2018 USD ($) $ / kWh	Mar. 31, 2017 $ / kWh	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($) $ / kWh shares	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) shares	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) shares	Jan. 31, 2019 USD ($)
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)					$ (1,036,826)	$ 542,570	$ (817,259)
Depreciation rates on average depreciable property					2.80%	3.00%	2.80%
Depreciation rates on average depreciable utility property					2.60%	2.60%	2.60%
Depreciation rates on average depreciable non-utility property					18.60%	22.30%	5.20%
Accumulated depreciation of non-utility property				$ 177,000	$ 177,000	$ 167,000
Construction expenditures in accounts payable				311,000	$ 311,000	$ 368,000
Options outstanding excluded from the calculation of diluted earnings per share | shares					956,550	2,927,512	7,137,210
Incremental Common Shares Attributable to Share-based Payment Arrangements | shares					300,000	200,000	0
Asset Retirement Obligations, Noncurrent				6,355,543	$ 6,355,543	$ 6,185,814
Asset Impairment Charges					532,321	538,372	$ 2,835,637
Asset Write-Offs, Impairments, And Related Charges					491,739	357,251	2,835,637
Assets, Fair Value Disclosure				7,818,000	7,818,000	8,414,000
Property, Plant and Equipment, Net				304,382	304,382	260,980
Decommissioning					388,508	405,685	327,425
Entergy Wholesale Commodities [Member]
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)					(269,025)	(146,480)	(1,192,263)
Asset Write-Offs, Impairments, And Related Charges					532,000	538,000
Impairment of Long-Lived Assets Held-For-Use, Net of Tax					421,000	350,000
Asset Write-Offs, Impairments, And Related Charges					532,321	538,372	2,835,637
Subsequent Event [Member]
Operating and Finance Lease Liability								$ 263,000
Operating and Finance Lease Right of Use Asset								263,000
Entergy Louisiana [Member]
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)					$ (54,611)	$ 485,298	$ 89,734
Increase in decommissioning liability	$ 85,400
Depreciation rates on average depreciable property					2.30%	2.30%	2.30%
Accumulated depreciation of non-utility property				161,200	$ 161,200	$ 152,300
Construction expenditures in accounts payable				104,600	$ 104,600	160,400
Percentage Interest in River Bend					30.00%
Portion of percentage of interest of River Bend plant costs, generation, revenues and expenses operating the Louisiana retail deregulated portion of River Bend					15.00%
Rate At Which Electricity Sold To Retail Customers | $ / kWh					0.046
Limit above which incremental revenue shared between ratepayers and shareholders | $ / kWh					0.046
Asset Retirement Obligations, Noncurrent				1,280,272	$ 1,280,272	1,140,461
Assets, Fair Value Disclosure				1,631,400	1,631,400	1,643,900
Property, Plant and Equipment, Net				286,555	286,555	245,255
Asset Write-Offs, Impairments, And Related Charges			$ 16,000
Decommissioning					53,736	49,457	$ 46,944
Entergy Louisiana [Member] | Subsequent Event [Member]
Operating and Finance Lease Liability								51,000
Operating and Finance Lease Right of Use Asset								51,000
Entergy Texas [Member]
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)					$ (26,243)	$ 48,481	$ 63,097
Depreciation rates on average depreciable property					2.70%	2.60%	2.50%
Accumulated depreciation of non-utility property				4,900	$ 4,900	$ 4,900
Construction expenditures in accounts payable				55,600	55,600	32,800
Asset Retirement Obligations, Noncurrent				7,222	7,222	6,835
Assets, Fair Value Disclosure						156,600
Property, Plant and Equipment, Net				376	376	376
Entergy Texas [Member] | Subsequent Event [Member]
Operating and Finance Lease Liability								16,000
Operating and Finance Lease Right of Use Asset								16,000
Entergy Arkansas [Member]
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)					$ (297,067)	$ 93,804	$ 107,773
Depreciation rates on average depreciable property					2.50%	2.50%	2.50%
Construction expenditures in accounts payable				35,700	$ 35,700	$ 58,800
Rate At Which Electricity Sold To Retail Customers | $ / kWh	0.01547	0.01164
Asset Retirement Obligations, Noncurrent				1,048,428	1,048,428	981,213
Assets, Fair Value Disclosure				920,100	920,100	954,000
Decommissioning					60,420	56,860	$ 53,610
Entergy Arkansas [Member] | Subsequent Event [Member]
Operating and Finance Lease Liability								59,000
Operating and Finance Lease Right of Use Asset								59,000
Entergy Mississippi [Member]
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)					$ (125,773)	$ 73,919	$ 63,854
Depreciation rates on average depreciable property					3.20%	3.10%	3.10%
Accumulated depreciation of non-utility property				500	$ 500	$ 500
Construction expenditures in accounts payable				13,600	13,600	17,100
Asset Retirement Obligations, Noncurrent				9,206	9,206	9,219
Assets, Fair Value Disclosure				71,500	71,500	38,600
Property, Plant and Equipment, Net				4,576	4,576	4,592
Entergy Mississippi [Member] | Subsequent Event [Member]
Operating and Finance Lease Liability								26,000
Operating and Finance Lease Right of Use Asset								26,000
Entergy New Orleans [Member]
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)					$ (2,436)	$ 33,278	$ 28,705
Depreciation rates on average depreciable property					3.50%	3.50%	3.40%
Construction expenditures in accounts payable				5,800	$ 5,800	$ 2,500
Asset Retirement Obligations, Noncurrent				3,291	3,291	3,076
Assets, Fair Value Disclosure				104,100	104,100	118,300
Property, Plant and Equipment, Net				1,016	1,016	1,016
Entergy New Orleans [Member] | Subsequent Event [Member]
Operating and Finance Lease Liability								7,000
Operating and Finance Lease Right of Use Asset								$ 7,000
System Energy [Member]
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)					$ (47,675)	$ 69,969	$ 71,061
Depreciation rates on average depreciable property					1.90%	2.80%	2.80%
Construction expenditures in accounts payable				26,300	$ 26,300	$ 33,900
Asset Retirement Obligations, Noncurrent				896,000	896,000	861,664
Assets, Fair Value Disclosure				965,100	965,100	1,192,800
Decommissioning					$ 34,336	$ 43,347	$ 50,797
Vermont Yankee [Member] | Entergy Wholesale Commodities [Member]
Asset Impairment Charges				$ 173,000
Palisades [Member] | Entergy Wholesale Commodities [Member]
Carrying Value of Nuclear Plant							558,000
Asset Impairment Charges							48,000
After-Tax Asset Impairment Charge							258,000
Asset Write-Offs, Impairments, And Related Charges							352,000
Assets, Fair Value Disclosure							206,000
Asset Write-Offs, Impairments, And Related Charges							400,000
Indian Point [Member] | Entergy Wholesale Commodities [Member]
Carrying Value of Nuclear Plant							2,619,000
Asset Impairment Charges							157,000
After-Tax Asset Impairment Charge							1,511,000
Asset Write-Offs, Impairments, And Related Charges							2,186,000
Assets, Fair Value Disclosure							433,000
Asset Write-Offs, Impairments, And Related Charges							$ 2,343,000