Related Party Transactions (Notes)	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2019
Related Party Transactions [Abstract]
Related Party Transactions Disclosure [Text Block]	Related Party Transactions We have entered into various agreements with related parties associated with the operation of our business. A description of these related party transactions is provided below: Accounts Receivable Sales Program On December 1, 2016, in conjunction with our acquisition of Calpine Solutions, we entered into the Accounts Receivable Sales Program which allows us to sell, at a discount, up to $250 million in certain trade accounts receivable, arising from the sale of power and natural gas, from Calpine Solutions to Calpine Receivables which in turn sells 100% of the receivables to an unaffiliated financial institution, subject to certain contractual limitations. The Accounts Receivable Sales Program expires on November 27, 2020. Calpine Solutions services the receivables sold in exchange for a servicing fee which was not material for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017. We are not the primary beneficiary of Calpine Receivables and, accordingly, do not consolidate this entity in our Consolidated Financial Statements. See Note 7 for a further discussion of our unconsolidated VIEs. Any portion of the purchase price for the sold receivables which is not paid in cash is recorded as a note receivable. The note receivable is recorded at fair value and does not materially differ from the carrying value of the trade accounts receivable held prior to sale due to the short-term nature of the receivables and high credit quality of the retail customers involved. Receivables sold under the Accounts Receivable Sales Program are accounted for as sales and excluded from accounts receivable on our Consolidated Balance Sheets and reflected as cash provided by operating activities on our Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. Calpine has guaranteed the performance of Calpine Solutions under the Accounts Receivable Sales Program. See Note 16 for a further description of our guarantees. Under the Accounts Receivable Sales Program, at December 31, 2019 and 2018, we had $222 million and $238 million, respectively, in trade accounts receivable outstanding that were sold under the Accounts Receivable Sales Program and $38 million and $34 million, respectively, in notes receivable which was recorded on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. We sold an aggregate of approximately $2.3 billion, $2.4 billion and $2.2 billion in trade accounts receivable and recorded proceeds of approximately $2.3 billion, $2.3 billion and $2.2 billion during the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively. Any losses incurred on the sale of trade accounts receivable are recorded in other (income) expense, net on our Consolidated Statements of Operations which were not material during the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017. Lyondell — We have a ground lease agreement with Houston Refining LP (“Houston Refining”), a subsidiary of Lyondell, for our Channel Energy Center site from which we sell power, capacity and steam to Houston Refining under a PPA. We purchase refinery gas and raw water from Houston Refining under a facilities services agreement. One of the entities which obtained an ownership interest in Calpine through the Merger also has an ownership interest in Lyondell whereby they may significantly influence the management and operating policies of Lyondell. The terms of the PPA with Lyondell were negotiated prior to the Merger closing. During the year ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, we recorded $70 million and $76 million in operating revenues, respectively, and $14 million and $12 million in operating expenses, respectively, associated with Lyondell. At December 31, 2019 and 2018, the related party receivables and payables associated with this contract were immaterial. Other — Following the Merger, we have identified other related party contracts for the sale of power, capacity, steam and RECs which are entered into in the ordinary course of our business. Most of these contracts relate to the sale of commodities and capacity for varying tenors. We have also entered into a long-term land lease agreement with a related party. As of December 31, 2019 and 2018, the related party revenues, expenses, receivables and payables associated with these transactions were immaterial.

Related Party Transactions

We have entered into various agreements with related parties associated with the operation of our business. A description of these related party transactions is provided below:

Accounts Receivable Sales Program

On December 1, 2016, in conjunction with our acquisition of Calpine Solutions, we entered into the Accounts Receivable Sales Program which allows us to sell, at a discount, up to $250 million in certain trade accounts receivable, arising from the sale of power and natural gas, from Calpine Solutions to Calpine Receivables which in turn sells 100% of the receivables to an unaffiliated financial institution, subject to certain contractual limitations. The Accounts Receivable Sales Program expires on November 27, 2020. Calpine Solutions services the receivables sold in exchange for a servicing fee which was not material for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017. We are not the primary beneficiary of Calpine Receivables and, accordingly, do not consolidate this entity in our Consolidated Financial Statements. See Note 7 for a further discussion of our unconsolidated VIEs. Any portion of the purchase price for the sold receivables which is not paid in cash is recorded as a note receivable. The note receivable is recorded at fair value and does not materially differ from the carrying value of the trade accounts receivable held prior to sale due to the short-term nature of the receivables and high credit quality of the retail customers involved. Receivables sold under the Accounts Receivable Sales Program are accounted for as sales and excluded from accounts receivable on our Consolidated Balance Sheets and reflected as cash provided by operating activities on our Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. Calpine has guaranteed the performance of Calpine Solutions under the Accounts Receivable Sales Program. See Note 16 for a further description of our guarantees.

Under the Accounts Receivable Sales Program, at December 31, 2019 and 2018, we had $222 million and $238 million, respectively, in trade accounts receivable outstanding that were sold under the Accounts Receivable Sales Program and $38 million and $34 million, respectively, in notes receivable which was recorded on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. We sold an aggregate of approximately $2.3 billion, $2.4 billion and $2.2 billion in trade accounts receivable and recorded proceeds of approximately $2.3 billion, $2.3 billion and $2.2 billion during the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively. Any losses incurred on the sale of trade accounts receivable are recorded in other (income) expense, net on our Consolidated Statements of Operations which were not material during the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017.

Lyondell — We have a ground lease agreement with Houston Refining LP (“Houston Refining”), a subsidiary of Lyondell, for our Channel Energy Center site from which we sell power, capacity and steam to Houston Refining under a PPA. We purchase refinery gas and raw water from Houston Refining under a facilities services agreement. One of the entities which obtained an ownership interest in Calpine through the Merger also has an ownership interest in Lyondell whereby they may significantly influence the management and operating policies of Lyondell. The terms of the PPA with Lyondell were negotiated prior to the Merger closing. During the year ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, we recorded $70 million and $76 million in operating revenues, respectively, and $14 million and $12 million in operating expenses, respectively, associated with Lyondell. At December 31, 2019 and 2018, the related party receivables and payables associated with this contract were immaterial.

Other — Following the Merger, we have identified other related party contracts for the sale of power, capacity, steam and RECs which are entered into in the ordinary course of our business. Most of these contracts relate to the sale of commodities and capacity for varying tenors. We have also entered into a long-term land lease agreement with a related party. As of December 31, 2019 and 2018, the related party revenues, expenses, receivables and payables associated with these transactions were immaterial.