Risk Management and Hedging Activities - EEGH- Balance Sheet Location (Details) - Eastern Energy Gas Holdings, LLC [Member] - USD ($) $ in Millions	Dec. 31, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]
Derivative, fair value, net	$ 11	$ (78)
Cash collateral receivable	0	0
Total - net basis	11	(78)
Other Current Assets [Member]
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]
Derivative, fair value, net	0	0
Cash collateral receivable	0	0
Total - net basis	0	0
Other Noncurrent Assets [Member]
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]
Derivative, fair value, net	20	8
Cash collateral receivable	0	0
Total - net basis	20	8
Other Current Liabilities [Member]
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]
Derivative, fair value, net	(9)	(33)
Cash collateral receivable	0	0
Total - net basis	(9)	(33)
Other Noncurrent Liabilities [Member]
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]
Derivative, fair value, net	0	(53)
Cash collateral receivable	0	0
Total - net basis	0	(53)
Interest Rate Contract [Member] \| Designated as Hedging Instrument [Member]
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]
Derivative, fair value, net	(6)	(83)
Interest Rate Contract [Member] \| Designated as Hedging Instrument [Member] \| Other Current Assets [Member]
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]
Derivative, fair value, net	0	0
Interest Rate Contract [Member] \| Designated as Hedging Instrument [Member] \| Other Noncurrent Assets [Member]
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]
Derivative, fair value, net	0	0
Interest Rate Contract [Member] \| Designated as Hedging Instrument [Member] \| Other Current Liabilities [Member]
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]
Derivative, fair value, net	(6)	(30)
Interest Rate Contract [Member] \| Designated as Hedging Instrument [Member] \| Other Noncurrent Liabilities [Member]
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]
Derivative, fair value, net	0	(53)
Foreign Exchange Contract [Member] \| Designated as Hedging Instrument [Member]
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]
Derivative, fair value, net	18	5
Foreign Exchange Contract [Member] \| Designated as Hedging Instrument [Member] \| Other Current Assets [Member]
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]
Derivative, fair value, net	0	0
Foreign Exchange Contract [Member] \| Designated as Hedging Instrument [Member] \| Other Noncurrent Assets [Member]
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]
Derivative, fair value, net	20	8
Foreign Exchange Contract [Member] \| Designated as Hedging Instrument [Member] \| Other Current Liabilities [Member]
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]
Derivative, fair value, net	(2)	(3)
Foreign Exchange Contract [Member] \| Designated as Hedging Instrument [Member] \| Other Noncurrent Liabilities [Member]
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]
Derivative, fair value, net	0	$ 0
Commodity Contract [Member] \| Not Designated as Hedging Instrument [Member]
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]
Derivative, fair value, net	(1)
Commodity Contract [Member] \| Not Designated as Hedging Instrument [Member] \| Other Current Assets [Member]
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]
Derivative, fair value, net	0
Commodity Contract [Member] \| Not Designated as Hedging Instrument [Member] \| Other Noncurrent Assets [Member]
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]
Derivative, fair value, net	0
Commodity Contract [Member] \| Not Designated as Hedging Instrument [Member] \| Other Current Liabilities [Member]
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]
Derivative, fair value, net	(1)
Commodity Contract [Member] \| Not Designated as Hedging Instrument [Member] \| Other Noncurrent Liabilities [Member]
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]
Derivative, fair value, net	$ 0

The net amount of the rights to reclaim, or the obligations to return, cash collateral under master netting arrangements that have been offset against derivative instrument positions as of the balance sheet date.

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	bhe_CashCollateralNetReceivablePayableOffsetAgainstDerivativePositions
Namespace Prefix:	bhe_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Fair values as of the balance sheet date of the net amount of all assets and liabilities resulting from contracts that meet the criteria of being accounted for as derivative instruments.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 815
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 5
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=117331979&loc=d3e41228-113958

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DerivativeAssetsLiabilitiesAtFairValueNet
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Fair value of the assets less the liabilities of a derivative or group of derivatives.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 825
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 10
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=121572278&loc=d3e13433-108611

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DerivativeFairValueOfDerivativeNet
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DerivativesFairValueLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	dei_LegalEntityAxis=bhe_EasternEnergyGasHoldingsLLCMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_BalanceSheetLocationAxis=us-gaap_OtherCurrentAssetsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_BalanceSheetLocationAxis=us-gaap_OtherNoncurrentAssetsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_BalanceSheetLocationAxis=us-gaap_OtherCurrentLiabilitiesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_BalanceSheetLocationAxis=us-gaap_OtherNoncurrentLiabilitiesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DerivativeInstrumentRiskAxis=us-gaap_InterestRateContractMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_HedgingDesignationAxis=us-gaap_DesignatedAsHedgingInstrumentMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DerivativeInstrumentRiskAxis=us-gaap_ForeignExchangeContractMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DerivativeInstrumentRiskAxis=us-gaap_CommodityContractMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_HedgingDesignationAxis=us-gaap_NondesignatedMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: