Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies (Narrative) (Details) $ in Thousands		1 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
		Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) $ / kWh shares	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) shares	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($) shares	Sep. 30, 2014 USD ($)
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)				$ (817,259)	$ (642,927)	$ 589,597
Depreciation rates on average depreciable property				2.80%	2.90%	2.80%
Depreciation rates on average depreciable utility property				2.60%	2.70%	2.50%
Depreciation rates on average depreciable non-utility property				5.20%	5.40%	5.50%
Accumulated depreciation of non-utility property				$ 169,000	$ 164,000
Construction expenditures in accounts payable				$ 253,000	$ 234,000
Options outstanding excluded from the calculation of diluted earnings per share | shares				7,137,210	7,399,820	5,743,013
Stock-based compensation plans award vesting period				3 years
Incremental Common Shares Attributable to Share-based Payment Arrangements | shares				0	0	300,000
Asset Retirement Obligations, Noncurrent				$ 5,992,476	$ 4,790,187
Asset Write-Offs, Impairments, And Related Charges				2,835,637	2,104,906	$ 123,527
Property, Plant and Equipment, Net				233,641	219,999
Asset Write-Offs, Impairments, And Related Charges				2,835,637	2,104,906	179,752
Decommissioning				327,425	280,272	272,621
Entergy Wholesale Commodities [Member]
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)	[1]			(1,192,263)	(610,339)	176,988
Asset Write-Offs, Impairments, And Related Charges				2,800,000	2,000,000
Asset Write-Offs, Impairments, And Related Charges	[1]			2,835,637	2,036,234	107,527
Entergy Louisiana [Member]
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)				$ 89,734	$ 178,671	$ 185,052
Depreciation rates on average depreciable property				2.30%	2.30%	2.20%
Accumulated depreciation of non-utility property				$ 154,400	$ 150,100
Construction expenditures in accounts payable				$ 114,800	68,600
Percentage Interest in River Bend				30.00%
Portion of percentage of interest of River Bend plant costs, generation, revenues and expenses operating the Louisiana retail deregulated portion of River Bend				15.00%
Rate at which electricity sold to retail customers | $ / kWh				0.046
Limit above which incremental revenue shared between ratepayers and shareholders | $ / kWh				0.046
Asset Retirement Obligations, Noncurrent				$ 1,082,685	1,027,862
Property, Plant and Equipment, Net				217,494	206,293
Asset Write-Offs, Impairments, And Related Charges		$ 16,000
Decommissioning				46,944	43,445	$ 41,493
Entergy Texas [Member]
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)				$ 63,097	$ 37,250	$ 49,644
Depreciation rates on average depreciable property				2.50%	2.60%	2.50%
Accumulated depreciation of non-utility property				$ 4,900	$ 4,900
Construction expenditures in accounts payable				9,300	33,100
Asset Retirement Obligations, Noncurrent				6,470	6,124
After-Tax Asset Impairment Charge					15,300
Property, Plant and Equipment, Net				376	376
Asset Write-Offs, Impairments, And Related Charges				0	23,472	$ 0
Entergy Arkansas [Member]
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)				$ 107,773	$ 40,541	$ 83,629
Depreciation rates on average depreciable property				2.50%	2.60%	2.40%
Construction expenditures in accounts payable				$ 40,900	$ 43,000
Asset Retirement Obligations, Noncurrent				924,353	872,346
Decommissioning				53,610	50,414	$ 46,972
Entergy Mississippi [Member]
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)				$ 63,854	$ 61,872	$ 55,710
Depreciation rates on average depreciable property				3.10%	3.20%	2.60%
Accumulated depreciation of non-utility property				$ 500	$ 500
Construction expenditures in accounts payable				11,500	11,400
Asset Retirement Obligations, Noncurrent				8,722	8,252
Property, Plant and Equipment, Net				4,608	4,625
Entergy New Orleans [Member]
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)				$ 28,705	$ 25,190	$ 13,450
Purchase price of net assets that support Algiers customers			$ 85,000
Depreciation rates on average depreciable property				3.40%	3.00%	3.20%
Construction expenditures in accounts payable				$ 2,300	$ 1,500
Asset Retirement Obligations, Noncurrent				2,875	2,687
Property, Plant and Equipment, Net				1,016	1,016
Payable due Entergy Louisiana					25,500
System Energy [Member]
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)				$ 71,061	$ 53,077	$ 83,310
Depreciation rates on average depreciable property				2.80%	2.80%	3.00%
Construction expenditures in accounts payable				$ 6,200	$ 6,800
Asset Retirement Obligations, Noncurrent				854,202	803,405
Decommissioning				$ 50,797	47,993	$ 41,835
Vermont Yankee [Member] | Entergy Wholesale Commodities [Member]
Increase in decommissioning liability							$ 101,600
FitzPatrick [Member] | Entergy Wholesale Commodities [Member]
Carrying Value of Nuclear Plant			742,000
Asset Impairment Charges			48,000
After-Tax Asset Impairment Charge			624,000
Asset Write-Offs, Impairments, And Related Charges			713,000
Assets, Fair Value Disclosure			29,000
Present Value Of The Difference Between The Stipulated Contract Amount For Decommissioning The Plants Less The Decommissioning Cost			335,000
Present Value Of The Difference Between The Stipulated Contract Amount For Decommissioning The Plants Less The Decommissioning Cost After Impairment			131,000
Change in Contract Amount For Decommissioning The Plants Less The Decommissioning Cost			204,000
Asset Write-Offs, Impairments, And Related Charges			965,000
Pilgrim [Member] | Entergy Wholesale Commodities [Member]
Carrying Value of Nuclear Plant			718,000
Asset Impairment Charges			24,000
After-Tax Asset Impairment Charge			438,000
Asset Write-Offs, Impairments, And Related Charges			653,000
Assets, Fair Value Disclosure			65,000
Asset Write-Offs, Impairments, And Related Charges			677,000
Decommissioning			$ 134,000
Palisades [Member] | Entergy Wholesale Commodities [Member]
Increase in decommissioning liability					42,000
Carrying Value of Nuclear Plant					859,000
Asset Write-Offs, Impairments, And Related Charges					396,000
Impairment of Long-Lived Assets Held-For-Use, Net of Tax					256,000
Assets, Fair Value Disclosure					$ 463,000

[1] Businesses marked with * are sometimes referred to as the “competitive businesses.” Eliminations are primarily intersegment activity. Almost all of Entergy’s goodwill is related to the Utility segment.