Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Details) (USD $)	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010
Production
Transmission	$ 3,344,000,000	$ 2,986,000,000
Distribution	6,157,000,000	5,926,000,000
Other	1,716,000,000	1,661,000,000
Construction work in progress	1,779,723,000	1,661,560,000
Nuclear fuel	1,546,000,000	1,378,000,000
PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT - NET	25,609,285,000	23,848,355,000
Nuclear Plant [Member]
Production
Public utilities property plant and equipment generation or processing	8,635,000,000	8,393,000,000
Other Plant in Service [Member]
Production
Public utilities property plant and equipment generation or processing	2,431,000,000	1,842,000,000
Utility [Member]
Production
Transmission	3,309,000,000	2,956,000,000
Distribution	6,157,000,000	5,926,000,000
Other	1,463,000,000	1,411,000,000
Construction work in progress	1,420,000,000	1,300,000,000
Nuclear fuel	802,000,000	760,000,000
PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT - NET	20,624,000,000	19,528,000,000
Utility [Member] | Nuclear Plant [Member]
Production
Public utilities property plant and equipment generation or processing	5,441,000,000	5,378,000,000
Utility [Member] | Other Plant in Service [Member]
Production
Public utilities property plant and equipment generation or processing	2,032,000,000	1,797,000,000
Entergy Wholesale Commodities [Member]
Production
Transmission	35,000,000	30,000,000
Distribution	0	0
Other	250,000,000	248,000,000
Construction work in progress	359,000,000	361,000,000
Nuclear fuel	744,000,000	618,000,000
PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT - NET	4,981,000,000	4,317,000,000
Entergy Wholesale Commodities [Member] | Nuclear Plant [Member]
Production
Public utilities property plant and equipment generation or processing	3,194,000,000	3,015,000,000
Entergy Wholesale Commodities [Member] | Other Plant in Service [Member]
Production
Public utilities property plant and equipment generation or processing	399,000,000	45,000,000
All Other [Member]
Production
Transmission	0	0
Distribution	0	0
Other	3,000,000	2,000,000
Construction work in progress	1,000,000	1,000,000
Nuclear fuel	0	0
PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT - NET	4,000,000	3,000,000
All Other [Member] | Nuclear Plant [Member]
Production
Public utilities property plant and equipment generation or processing	0	0
All Other [Member] | Other Plant in Service [Member]
Production
Public utilities property plant and equipment generation or processing	$ 0	$ 0