SEGMENTS (Details) - USD ($)	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2017	Sep. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2017	Mar. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Sep. 30, 2016	Jun. 30, 2016	Mar. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Segment Reporting, Disclosure of Major Customers									For the year ended December 31, 2017, we had no single customer from which we received 10 percent or more of our consolidated revenues.	For the year ended December 31, 2016, we had no single customer from which we received 10 percent or more of our consolidated revenues.	For the year ended December 31, 2015, we had no single customer from which we received 10 percent or more of our consolidated revenues.
Total revenues	$ 3,792,158,000	$ 2,906,366,000	$ 2,725,772,000	$ 2,749,611,000	$ 2,654,461,000	$ 2,357,907,000	$ 2,134,107,000	$ 1,774,459,000	$ 12,173,907,000	$ 8,920,934,000	$ 7,763,206,000
Cost of sales and fuel (exclusive of depreciation and items shown separately below)									(9,538,045,000)	(6,496,124,000)	(5,641,052,000)
Operating costs									(833,586,000)	(757,184,000)	(693,331,000)
Equity in net earnings from investments									159,278,000	139,690,000	125,300,000
Depreciation and amortization									(406,335,000)	(391,585,000)	(354,620,000)
Impairment of long-lived assets									(15,970,000)	0	(83,673,000)
Impairment of equity investments									(4,270,000)	0	(180,583,000)
Impairment charges									(20,240,000)	0	(264,256,000)
Noncash compensation expense									13,421,000	31,981,000	13,799,000
Total assets	16,845,937,000				16,138,751,000				16,845,937,000	16,138,751,000	15,446,111,000
Capital expenditures									512,393,000	624,634,000	1,188,312,000
Operating income									1,380,895,000	1,285,676,000	996,159,000
Income from continuing operations					194,761,000	$ 194,792,000	$ 180,086,000	$ 175,911,000	593,519,000	745,550,000	385,276,000
Interest expense, net of capitalized interest									485,658,000	469,651,000	416,787,000
Income taxes									447,282,000	212,406,000	136,600,000
Other corporate costs and noncash items (a)									46,774,000	(11,639,000)	(5,512,000)
Noncash Contribution Expense									12,600,000	0	0
Business Combination, Acquisition Related Costs									30,000,000
Natural Gas Gathering And Processing
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total revenues									3,026,574,000	2,051,577,000	1,837,116,000
Cost of sales and fuel (exclusive of depreciation and items shown separately below)									(2,216,355,000)	(1,331,542,000)	(1,265,617,000)
Operating costs									(309,536,000)	(285,599,000)	(272,418,000)
Equity in net earnings from investments									12,098,000	10,742,000	17,863,000
Other									5,691,000	1,600,000	1,610,000
Segment adjusted EBITDA									518,472,000	446,778,000	318,554,000
Depreciation and amortization									(184,923,000)	(178,548,000)	(150,008,000)
Impairment of long-lived assets									(15,970,000.0)	(0.0)	(73,681,000.0)
Impairment of equity investments											(180,583,000)
Impairment charges									(20,240,000)
Total assets	5,495,163,000				5,320,666,000				5,495,163,000	5,320,666,000	5,123,450,000
Capital expenditures									284,205,000	410,485,000	887,938,000
Natural Gas Liquids
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total revenues									10,626,204,000	7,675,654,000	6,579,699,000
Cost of sales and fuel (exclusive of depreciation and items shown separately below)									(9,176,494,000)	(6,321,377,000)	(5,328,256,000)
Operating costs									(359,753,000)	(327,597,000)	(314,505,000)
Equity in net earnings from investments									59,876,000	54,513,000	38,696,000
Other									5,106,000	(1,574,000)	(3,342,000)
Segment adjusted EBITDA									1,154,939,000	1,079,619,000	972,292,000
Depreciation and amortization									(167,277,000)	(163,303,000)	(158,709,000)
Impairment of long-lived assets									(0.0)	(0.0)	(9,992,000.0)
Impairment of equity investments											0
Impairment charges									0
Total assets	8,782,700,000				8,347,961,000				8,782,700,000	8,347,961,000	8,017,799,000
Capital expenditures									114,267,000	105,861,000	226,135,000
Natural Gas Liquids | Natural Gas Liquids Regulated [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total revenues									1,199,500,000	1,200,000,000	954,800,000
Cost of sales and fuel (exclusive of depreciation and items shown separately below)									(497,400,000)	(458,700,000)	(412,600,000)
Natural Gas Pipelines
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total revenues									419,932,000	379,361,000	332,447,000
Cost of sales and fuel (exclusive of depreciation and items shown separately below)									(43,424,000)	(30,561,000)	(34,481,000)
Operating costs									(126,241,000)	(115,628,000)	(105,720,000)
Equity in net earnings from investments									87,304,000	74,435,000	68,741,000
Other									2,247,000	5,530,000	13,993,000
Segment adjusted EBITDA									339,818,000	313,137,000	274,980,000
Depreciation and amortization									(51,025,000)	(46,718,000)	(43,479,000)
Impairment of long-lived assets											0
Impairment of equity investments											0
Impairment charges									0
Total assets	2,055,020,000				1,946,318,000				2,055,020,000	1,946,318,000	1,851,857,000
Capital expenditures									95,564,000	96,274,000	58,215,000
Natural Gas Pipelines | Natural Gas Pipelines Regulated [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total revenues									264,900,000	238,700,000	266,900,000
Cost of sales and fuel (exclusive of depreciation and items shown separately below)									(44,000,000)	(30,000,000)	(31,100,000)
Total Segments [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total revenues									14,072,710,000	10,106,592,000	8,749,262,000
Cost of sales and fuel (exclusive of depreciation and items shown separately below)									(11,436,273,000)	(7,683,480,000)	(6,628,354,000)
Operating costs									(795,530,000)	(728,824,000)	(692,643,000)
Equity in net earnings from investments									159,278,000	139,690,000	125,300,000
Other									13,044,000	5,556,000	12,261,000
Segment adjusted EBITDA									2,013,229,000	1,839,534,000	1,565,826,000
Depreciation and amortization									(403,225,000)	(388,569,000)	(352,196,000)
Impairment of long-lived assets											(83,673,000)
Impairment of equity investments											(180,583,000)
Impairment charges									(20,240,000)
Total assets	16,332,883,000				15,614,945,000				16,332,883,000	15,614,945,000	14,993,106,000
Capital expenditures									494,036,000	612,620,000	1,172,288,000
Other and Eliminations
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total revenues									(1,898,803,000)	(1,185,658,000)	(986,056,000)
Cost of sales and fuel (exclusive of depreciation and items shown separately below)									1,898,228,000	1,187,356,000	987,302,000
Operating costs									(38,056,000)	(28,360,000)	(688,000)
Equity in net earnings from investments									0	0	0
Depreciation and amortization									(3,110,000)	(3,016,000)	(2,424,000)
Impairment of long-lived assets											0
Impairment of equity investments											0
Impairment charges									0
Total assets	$ 513,054,000				$ 523,806,000				513,054,000	523,806,000	453,005,000
Capital expenditures									18,357,000	12,014,000	16,024,000
Unaffiliated entity [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total revenues									12,173,907,000	8,920,934,000	7,763,206,000
Unaffiliated entity [Member] | Natural Gas Gathering And Processing
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total revenues									1,750,655,000	1,375,738,000	1,187,390,000
Unaffiliated entity [Member] | Natural Gas Liquids
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total revenues									10,009,576,000	7,168,983,000	6,248,002,000
Unaffiliated entity [Member] | Natural Gas Pipelines
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total revenues									411,490,000	373,738,000	325,676,000
Unaffiliated entity [Member] | Total Segments [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total revenues									12,171,721,000	8,918,459,000	7,761,068,000
Unaffiliated entity [Member] | Other and Eliminations
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total revenues									2,186,000	2,475,000	2,138,000
Operating Segments [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total revenues									0	0	0
Operating Segments [Member] | Natural Gas Gathering And Processing
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total revenues									1,275,919,000	675,839,000	649,726,000
Operating Segments [Member] | Natural Gas Liquids
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total revenues									616,628,000	506,671,000	331,697,000
Operating Segments [Member] | Natural Gas Liquids | Natural Gas Liquids Regulated [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total revenues									1,017,100,000	992,800,000	770,100,000
Operating Segments [Member] | Natural Gas Pipelines
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total revenues									8,442,000	5,623,000	6,771,000
Operating Segments [Member] | Total Segments [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total revenues									1,900,989,000	1,188,133,000	988,194,000
Operating Segments [Member] | Other and Eliminations
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total revenues									(1,900,989,000)	$ (1,188,133,000)	$ (988,194,000)
Series E Preferred Stock [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Noncash Contribution Expense									$ 20,000,000