Jointly Owned Utility Facilities - NPC (Details) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)
Jointly Owned Utility Plant Interests [Line Items]
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Gross Ownership Amount of Plant in Service	$ 9,316
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Ownership Amount of Plant Accumulated Depreciation	3,980
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Ownership Amount of Construction Work in Progress	213
Nevada Power Company [Member]
Jointly Owned Utility Plant Interests [Line Items]
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Gross Ownership Amount of Plant in Service	662
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Ownership Amount of Plant Accumulated Depreciation	235
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Ownership Amount of Construction Work in Progress	$ 4
Nevada Power Company [Member] \| Silverhawk Generating Station [Member]
Jointly Owned Utility Plant Interests [Line Items]
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Proportionate Ownership Share	75.00%
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Gross Ownership Amount of Plant in Service	$ 247
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Ownership Amount of Plant Accumulated Depreciation	58
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Ownership Amount of Construction Work in Progress	$ 2
Nevada Power Company [Member] \| Navajo Generating Station [Member]
Jointly Owned Utility Plant Interests [Line Items]
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Proportionate Ownership Share	11.00%
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Gross Ownership Amount of Plant in Service	$ 203
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Ownership Amount of Plant Accumulated Depreciation	141
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Ownership Amount of Construction Work in Progress	$ 1
Nevada Power Company [Member] \| ON Line Transmission Line [Member]
Jointly Owned Utility Plant Interests [Line Items]
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Proportionate Ownership Share	24.00%
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Gross Ownership Amount of Plant in Service	$ 144
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Ownership Amount of Plant Accumulated Depreciation	8
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Ownership Amount of Construction Work in Progress	$ 1
Nevada Power Company [Member] \| Other Transmission Facilities [Member]
Jointly Owned Utility Plant Interests [Line Items]
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Proportionate Ownership Percentage Share	Various
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Gross Ownership Amount of Plant in Service	$ 68
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Ownership Amount of Plant Accumulated Depreciation	28
Jointly Owned Utility Plant, Ownership Amount of Construction Work in Progress	$ 0

The proportionate share of interest (percent) in a jointly owned utility plant.

No definition available.

Name:	bhe_JointlyOwnedUtilityPlantProportionateOwnershipPercentageShare
Namespace Prefix:	bhe_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The period end amount owned by the reporting utility of a jointly owned utility plant in service.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 980
-SubTopic 360
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SAB TOPIC 10.C)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6500719&loc=d3e659983-123033

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher SEC
-Name Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB)
-Number Topic 10
-Section C

+ Details

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

- Definition

The period end amount of construction work in progress at a jointly owned electricity generation plant.

+ References

+ Details

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

- Definition

The period end amount of accumulated depreciation in a jointly owned electricity generation plant.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_JointlyOwnedUtilityPlantOwnershipAmountOfPlantAccumulatedDepreciation
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The proportionate share of interest (percent) in a jointly owned utility plant.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_JointlyOwnedUtilityPlantProportionateOwnershipShare
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Details

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

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_JointlyOwnedUtilityPlantAxis=bhe_SilverhawkGeneratingStationMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_JointlyOwnedUtilityPlantAxis=bhe_NavajoGeneratingStationMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_JointlyOwnedUtilityPlantAxis=bhe_ONLineTransmissionLineMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_JointlyOwnedUtilityPlantAxis=bhe_OtherTransmissionFacilitiesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: