Short-Term Debt and Credit Facilities - MEC - Credit Facility (Details) $ in Millions		Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity	[1]	$ 6,345	$ 6,421
Short-term Debt	[1]	(1,869)	(974)
Line of Credit Facility, Amounts Supported	[1]	(457)	(415)
Line of Credit Facility, Remaining Borrowing Capacity	[1]	4,019	5,032
MidAmerican Energy Company [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity		605	605
Short-term Debt		(99)	0
Line of Credit Facility, Amounts Supported		(220)	(195)
Line of Credit Facility, Remaining Borrowing Capacity		$ 286	$ 410
MidAmerican Energy Company [Member] | Line of Credit [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Debt to capitalization ratio		0.65
MidAmerican Energy Company [Member] | Commercial Paper [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Short-term Debt, Weighted Average Interest Rate		0.73%
Regulatory Approval for Additional Short-Term Debt Issuances		$ 605
MidAmerican Energy Company [Member] | Unsecured credit facility, $600 million, expiring March 2018 [Member] | Line of Credit [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity		600
MidAmerican Energy Company [Member] | Unsecured 364-day Credit Facility, $5 million, expiring June [Member] | Line of Credit [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity		$ 5

[1] The above table does not include unused credit facilities and letters of credit for investments that are accounted for under the equity method.