Financing Debt Instruments (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended						0 Months Ended						1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended					1 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2014	Mar. 31, 2013	Mar. 31, 2014 Debt Redemptions [Member]		Mar. 31, 2014 Debt Issuances [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Traditional Operating Companies [Member]	Feb. 20, 2014 Georgia Power [Member]	Feb. 20, 2014 Georgia Power [Member] Line of Credit [Member] Debt Due Two Thousand Forty Four [Member]	Feb. 20, 2014 Georgia Power [Member] Line of Credit [Member] Debt Due Two Thousand Twenty Nine [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Georgia Power [Member] Debt Redemptions [Member]		Mar. 31, 2014 Georgia Power [Member] Debt Issuances [Member]	Jan. 31, 2014 Mississippi Power [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Mississippi Power [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Mississippi Power [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Mississippi Power [Member] Debt Redemptions [Member]		Mar. 31, 2014 Mississippi Power [Member] Debt Issuances [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Southern Power [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Southern Power [Member] Debt Redemptions [Member]		Mar. 31, 2014 Southern Power [Member] Debt Issuances [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Other Subsidiaries [Member] Debt Redemptions [Member]		Mar. 31, 2014 Other Subsidiaries [Member] Debt Issuances [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Plant Vogtle Units 3 And 4 [Member] Georgia Power [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Current Borrowing Capacity							$ 1,000,000,000
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Proportionate Ownership Share																										45.70%
Amount of Variable Rate Pollution Control Revenue Bonds Outstanding Requiring Liquidity Support	1,800,000,000					559,000,000
Debt Instrument, Face Amount								500,000,000	500,000,000
Other Long-term Debt			9,000,000	[1]	1,251,000,000					1,000,000	[1]	1,000,000,000				1,000,000	[1]	250,000,000		1,000,000	[1]	1,000,000	6,000,000	[1]	0
Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage								3.86%	3.488%
Payments of Debt Issuance Costs							66,000,000
Bank Loans Period Of Extension													18 months
Aggregate Principal Amount Of Floating Rate Bank Loan													250,000,000
Debt Instrument, Description of Variable Rate Basis														P1M
Promissory Note																			600,000
Interest Bearing Refundable Deposit Related to Asset Sale	75,000,000	0											75,000,000	75,000,000	0
Repayments of Long-term Debt																			$ 800,000

[1] Includes reductions in capital lease obligations resulting from cash payments under capital leases.