Segment Information - Goodwill (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Beginning balance	$ 9,595	$ 9,678
Acquisitions	29	79
Foreign currency translation	98	(162)
Ending balance	9,722	9,595
PacifiCorp [Member]
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Beginning balance	1,129	1,129
Acquisitions	0	0
Foreign currency translation	0	0
Ending balance	1,129	1,129
MidAmerican Funding [Member]
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Beginning balance	2,102	2,102
Acquisitions	0	0
Foreign currency translation	0	0
Ending balance	2,102	2,102
NV Energy [Member]
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Beginning balance	2,369	2,369
Acquisitions	0	0
Foreign currency translation	0	0
Ending balance	2,369	2,369
Northern Powergrid Holdings [Member]
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Beginning balance	952	991
Acquisitions	0	0
Foreign currency translation	26	(39)
Ending balance	978	952
BHE Pipeline Group [Member]
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Beginning balance	73	73
Acquisitions	0	0
Foreign currency translation	0	0
Ending balance	73	73
BHE Transmission [Member]
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Beginning balance	1,448	1,571
Acquisitions	0	0
Foreign currency translation	72	(123)
Ending balance	1,520	1,448
BHE Renewables [Member]
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Beginning balance	95	95
Acquisitions	0	0
Foreign currency translation	0	0
Ending balance	95	95
HomeServices [Member]
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Beginning balance	1,427	1,348
Acquisitions	29	79
Foreign currency translation	0	0
Ending balance	1,456	1,427
Other [Member]
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Beginning balance	0	0
Acquisitions	0	0
Foreign currency translation	0	0
Ending balance	$ 0	$ 0

Amount after accumulated impairment loss of an asset representing future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 5
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=77989000&loc=SL49117168-202975

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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Amount of increase in asset representing future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized resulting from a business combination.

+ References

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Amount of foreign currency translation gain (loss) which increases (decreases) an asset representing future economic benefits from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

+ References

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A roll forward is a reconciliation of a concept from the beginning of a period to the end of a period.

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