Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies (Narrative) (Details) $ in Thousands	1 Months Ended		9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2017 USD ($) $ / kWh	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) $ / kWh shares	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) shares	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) shares	Jan. 01, 2018 USD ($)	Sep. 01, 2015 USD ($)
Adjustment to retained earnings resulting from ASU No. 2016-01							$ 633,000
Write-off of deferred tax asset resulting from implementation of accounting standard	$ 11,500
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)				$ 542,570	$ (817,259)	$ (642,927)
Depreciation rates on average depreciable property				3.00%	2.80%	2.90%
Depreciation rates on average depreciable utility property				2.60%	2.60%	2.70%
Depreciation rates on average depreciable non-utility property				22.30%	5.20%	5.40%
Accumulated depreciation of non-utility property				$ 167,000	$ 169,000
Construction expenditures in accounts payable				$ 368,000	$ 253,000
Options outstanding excluded from the calculation of diluted earnings per share | shares				2,927,512	7,137,210	7,399,820
Incremental Common Shares Attributable to Share-based Payment Arrangements | shares				200,000	0	0
Asset Retirement Obligations, Noncurrent				$ 6,185,814	$ 5,992,476
Asset Write-Offs, Impairments, And Related Charges				357,251	2,835,637	$ 2,104,906
Assets, Fair Value Disclosure				8,414,000	7,311,000
Property, Plant and Equipment, Net				260,980	233,641
Asset Write-Offs, Impairments, And Related Charges				538,372	2,835,637	2,104,906
Decommissioning				405,685	327,425	280,272
Adjustment to retained earnings resulting from ASU No. 2016-16							$ 56,000
Expected adjustment to retained earnings and accumulated other comprehensive income resulting from ASU No. 2018-02				15,000
Entergy Wholesale Commodities [Member]
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)				(146,480)	(1,192,263)	(610,339)
Asset Write-Offs, Impairments, And Related Charges				538,000	2,836,000
Impairment of Long-Lived Assets Held-For-Use, Net of Tax				350,000	1,829,000
Asset Write-Offs, Impairments, And Related Charges				538,372	2,835,637	2,036,234
Entergy Louisiana [Member]
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)				$ 485,298	$ 89,734	$ 178,671
Depreciation rates on average depreciable property				2.30%	2.30%	2.30%
Accumulated depreciation of non-utility property				$ 152,300	$ 154,400
Construction expenditures in accounts payable				$ 160,400	114,800
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				$ 1,140,461	1,082,685
Assets, Fair Value Disclosure				1,643,900	1,632,500
Property, Plant and Equipment, Net				245,255	217,494
Asset Write-Offs, Impairments, And Related Charges		$ 16,000
Decommissioning				49,457	46,944	$ 43,445
Entergy Texas [Member]
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)				$ 48,481	$ 63,097	$ 37,250
Depreciation rates on average depreciable property				2.60%	2.50%	2.60%
Accumulated depreciation of non-utility property				$ 4,900	$ 4,900
Construction expenditures in accounts payable				32,800	9,300
Asset Retirement Obligations, Noncurrent				6,835	6,470
After-Tax Asset Impairment Charge						$ 15,300
Assets, Fair Value Disclosure				156,600	45,600
Property, Plant and Equipment, Net				376	376
Asset Write-Offs, Impairments, And Related Charges				0	0	23,472
Entergy Arkansas [Member]
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)				$ 93,804	$ 107,773	$ 40,541
Depreciation rates on average depreciable property				2.50%	2.50%	2.60%
Construction expenditures in accounts payable				$ 58,800	$ 40,900
Rate At Which Electricity Sold To Retail Customers | $ / kWh	0.01164
Asset Retirement Obligations, Noncurrent				981,213	924,353
Assets, Fair Value Disclosure				954,000	851,300
Decommissioning				56,860	53,610	$ 50,414
Entergy Mississippi [Member]
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)				$ 73,919	$ 63,854	$ 61,872
Depreciation rates on average depreciable property				3.10%	3.10%	3.20%
Accumulated depreciation of non-utility property				$ 500	$ 500
Construction expenditures in accounts payable				17,100	11,500
Asset Retirement Obligations, Noncurrent				9,219	8,722
Assets, Fair Value Disclosure				38,600	114,100
Property, Plant and Equipment, Net				4,592	4,608
Entergy New Orleans [Member]
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)				$ 33,278	$ 28,705	$ 25,190
Purchase price of net assets that support Algiers customers								$ 85,000
Depreciation rates on average depreciable property				3.50%	3.40%	3.00%
Construction expenditures in accounts payable				$ 2,500	$ 2,300
Asset Retirement Obligations, Noncurrent				3,076	2,875
Assets, Fair Value Disclosure				118,300	194,600
Property, Plant and Equipment, Net				1,016	1,016
Payable due Entergy Louisiana								$ 25,500
System Energy [Member]
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)				$ 69,969	$ 71,061	$ 53,077
Depreciation rates on average depreciable property				2.80%	2.80%	2.80%
Construction expenditures in accounts payable				$ 33,900	$ 6,200
Asset Retirement Obligations, Noncurrent				861,664	854,202
Assets, Fair Value Disclosure				1,192,800	1,025,600
Decommissioning				$ 43,347	50,797	$ 47,993
FitzPatrick [Member] | Entergy Wholesale Commodities [Member]
Carrying Value of Nuclear Plant			$ 742,000
Asset Impairment Charges			48,000
After-Tax Asset Impairment Charge			624,000
Asset Write-Offs, Impairments, And Related Charges			713,000
Assets, Fair Value Disclosure			29,000
Present Value Of The Difference Between The Stipulated Contract Amount For Decommissioning The Plants Less The Decommissioning Cost			335,000
Present Value Of The Difference Between The Stipulated Contract Amount For Decommissioning The Plants Less The Decommissioning Cost After Impairment			131,000
Change in Contract Amount For Decommissioning The Plants Less The Decommissioning Cost			204,000
Asset Write-Offs, Impairments, And Related Charges			965,000
Pilgrim [Member] | Entergy Wholesale Commodities [Member]
Carrying Value of Nuclear Plant			718,000
Asset Impairment Charges			24,000
After-Tax Asset Impairment Charge			438,000
Asset Write-Offs, Impairments, And Related Charges			653,000
Assets, Fair Value Disclosure			65,000
Asset Write-Offs, Impairments, And Related Charges			677,000
Decommissioning			$ 134,000
Palisades [Member] | Entergy Wholesale Commodities [Member]
Carrying Value of Nuclear Plant					558,000	859,000
Asset Impairment Charges					48,000
After-Tax Asset Impairment Charge					258,000
Asset Write-Offs, Impairments, And Related Charges					352,000	396,000
Impairment of Long-Lived Assets Held-For-Use, Net of Tax						256,000
Assets, Fair Value Disclosure					206,000	463,000
Asset Write-Offs, Impairments, And Related Charges					400,000
Decommissioning					129,000	$ 42,000
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
Decommissioning					$ 392,000