Short-Term Debt and Credit Faciliites (Details) £ in Millions, CAD in Millions, $ in Millions		Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 CAD	Dec. 31, 2015 GBP (£)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 GBP (£)	Feb. 29, 2012 USD ($)
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity	[1]	$ 6,421			$ 6,696
Line of Credit Facility, Amounts Supported	[1]	(415)			(625)
Short-term Debt	[1]	(974)			(1,445)
Berkshire Hathaway Energy [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity		2,000			2,000
Letters of Credit Outstanding, Amount		142			125
Line of Credit Facility, Amounts Supported		(51)			(28)
Short-term Debt		$ (253)			$ (395)
Berkshire Hathaway Energy [Member] | Line of Credit [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Debt, Weighted Average Interest Rate		0.66%	0.66%	0.66%	0.49%	0.49%
Debt to capitalization ratio		0.70	0.70	0.70
Berkshire Hathaway Energy [Member] | Letter of Credit [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Amounts Supported		$ (51)			$ (28)
PacifiCorp [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity		1,200			1,200
Letters of Credit Outstanding, Amount		310			451
Line of Credit Facility, Amounts Supported		(160)			(398)
Short-term Debt		$ (20)			$ (20)
PacifiCorp [Member] | Line of Credit [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Debt, Weighted Average Interest Rate		0.65%	0.65%	0.65%	0.43%	0.43%
Debt to capitalization ratio		0.65	0.65	0.65
PacifiCorp [Member] | Letter of Credit [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Amounts Supported		$ (10)			$ (270)
MidAmerican Funding [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity		609			609
Line of Credit Facility, Amounts Supported		(195)			(195)
Short-term Debt		$ 0			(50)
MidAmerican Funding [Member] | Line of Credit [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Debt, Weighted Average Interest Rate		0.35%	0.35%	0.35%
Debt to capitalization ratio		0.65	0.65	0.65
Northern Powergrid Holdings [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity		$ 221			265
Line of Credit Facility, Amounts Supported		0			0
Short-term Debt		0			(215)
AltaLink, L.P. [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Short-term Debt		$ (324)			$ (104)
AltaLink, L.P. [Member] | Line of Credit [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Debt, Weighted Average Interest Rate		0.85%	0.85%	0.85%	1.26%	1.26%
Debt to capitalization ratio		0.75	0.75	0.75
ALP Investments [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Short-term Debt		$ (77)			$ (147)
ALP Investments [Member] | Line of Credit [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Debt, Weighted Average Interest Rate		0.89%	0.89%	0.89%	1.30%	1.30%
Debt to capitalization ratio		0.8	0.8	0.8
EBITDA to interest expense ratio		2.25	2.25	2.25
ALP Investments [Member] | Letter of Credit [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity | CAD			CAD 10
HomeServices [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Short-term Debt					$ (243)
BHE Renewables [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Letters of Credit Outstanding, Amount		$ 65			$ 63
Unsecured credit facility, £150 million, expiring August 2017 [Member] | Northern Powergrid (Yorkshire) plc [Member] | Line of Credit [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Debt to regulated asset value		0.65	0.65	0.65
Unsecured credit facility, $1.4 billion, expiring June 2017 [Member] | Berkshire Hathaway Energy [Member] | Line of Credit [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity		$ 1,400
Unsecured credit facility, $600 million, expiring June 2017 [Member] | Berkshire Hathaway Energy [Member] | Line of Credit [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity		600
Unsecured credit facility, $600 million, expiring June 2017 [Member] | PacifiCorp [Member] | Line of Credit [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity		600
Unsecured credit facility, $600 million, expiring March 2018 [Member] | PacifiCorp [Member] | Line of Credit [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity		600
Unsecured credit facility, $600 million, expiring March 2018 [Member] | MidAmerican Funding [Member] | Line of Credit [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity		600
Secured credit facility, $400 million, expiring March 2018 [Member] | Nevada Power Company [Member] | Line of Credit [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity		$ 400
Debt to capitalization ratio		0.68	0.68	0.68
Secured credit facility, $250 million, expiring March 2018 [Member] | Sierra Pacific Power Company [Member] | Line of Credit [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity		$ 250
Debt to capitalization ratio		0.68	0.68	0.68
Unsecured credit facility, £150 million, expiring August 2020 [Member] | Northern Powergrid Holdings [Member] | Line of Credit [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity | £				£ 150
Debt, Weighted Average Interest Rate					1.75%	1.75%
Short-term Debt					$ (184)
Debt to regulated asset value		0.8	0.8	0.8
Interest coverage ratio		2.5	2.5	2.5
Unsecured credit facility, £150 million, expiring August 2020 [Member] | Northern Powergrid (Northeast) Limited [Member] | Line of Credit [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Debt to regulated asset value		0.65	0.65	0.65
Uncommitted bank facilities [Member] | Northern Powergrid Holdings [Member] | Line of Credit [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity					$ 31	£ 42
Debt, Weighted Average Interest Rate					2.00%	2.00%
Secured credit facility, C$750 million, expiring December 2017 [Member] | AltaLink, L.P. [Member] | Line of Credit [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity | CAD			CAD 750
Secured credit facility, C$75 million, expiring December 2017 [Member] | AltaLink, L.P. [Member] | Line of Credit [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity | CAD			75
Secured credit facility, C$300 million, expiring December 2020 | ALP Investments [Member] | Line of Credit [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity | CAD			CAD 300
Unsecured credit facility, $350 million, expiring July 2018 [Member] | HomeServices [Member] | Line of Credit [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity		$ 350
Debt, Weighted Average Interest Rate					1.41%	1.41%
Unsecured credit facility, $578 million, expiring February 2016 through December 2016 [Member] | HomeServices [Member] | Line of Credit [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity		$ 578
Debt, Weighted Average Interest Rate		2.42%	2.42%	2.42%
Short-term Debt		$ (300)
Unsecured credit facility, $503 million, expiring May 2015 through December 2015 [Member] | HomeServices [Member] | Line of Credit [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity					$ 503
Debt, Weighted Average Interest Rate					2.25%	2.25%
Short-term Debt					$ (271)
Letter of credit and reimbursement facility, Topaz and Solar Star [Member] | BHE Renewables [Member] | Letter of Credit [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity							$ 646
Letters of Credit Outstanding, Amount		$ 600			$ 245

[1] The above table does not include unused credit facilities and letters of credit for investments that are accounted for under the equity method.