Capitalization (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		0 Months Ended	3 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2013 Share Distribution [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Share Distribution [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Share Distribution [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Share Distribution [Member]	Jul. 26, 2013 Share Distribution Subsequent To Reporting Period [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 KMP Acquisition of Copano [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Common Stock [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Dividend Paid [Member] Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L P [Member] Share Distribution [Member]
Distribution Made to Member or Limited Partner [Line Items]
Adjustment to addidional paid in capital, impact from income tax	$ 0	$ 89,000,000
Non-deductable goodwill									1,100,000,000
Income Tax Effects Allocated Directly to Equity, Equity Transactions		89,000,000
Proceeds from Issuance or Sale of Equity										500,000,000
Shares distributed per outstanding share (in shares)	0.017610
Distribution Made to Member or Limited Partner, Distributions Declared, Per Unit					$ 1.26	$ 3.97	$ 3.69				$ 1.35
Number of additional share distributions declared in the period				2,153,480	1,842,210	5,760,604	5,024,801
Distribution Made to Limited Partner, Distributions Paid, Per Unit				$ 1.32	$ 1.23	$ 3.91	$ 3.59
Proceeds from Issuance of Common Stock	$ 145,000,000	$ 145,000,000	$ 727,000,000
Average ten day closing market price, amount per share								$ 76.659
Stock Issued During Period, Shares, New Issues		1,757,300
Number of additional share distributions made in the period				1,880,172	1,578,616	5,411,720	4,646,736