Consolidated Statements Of Income (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010
OPERATING REVENUES
Electric	$ 7,870,649	$ 8,673,517	$ 8,740,637
Natural gas	130,836	165,819	197,658
Competitive businesses	2,300,594	2,389,737	2,549,282
TOTAL	10,302,079	11,229,073	11,487,577
Operating and Maintenance:
Fuel, fuel-related expenses, and gas purchased for resale	2,036,835	2,492,714	2,518,582
Purchased power	1,255,800	1,564,967	1,659,416
Nuclear refueling outage expenses	245,600	255,618	256,123
Asset impairment	355,524	0	0
Other operation and maintenance	3,045,392	2,867,758	2,969,402
Decommissioning	184,760	190,595	211,736
Taxes other than income taxes	557,298	536,026	534,299
Depreciation and amortization	1,144,585	1,102,202	1,069,894
Other regulatory charges (credits) - net	175,104	205,959	44,921
TOTAL	9,000,898	9,215,839	9,264,373
Gain on sale of business	0	0	44,173
OPERATING INCOME	1,301,181	2,013,234	2,267,377
OTHER INCOME
Allowance for equity funds used during construction	92,759	84,305	59,381
Interest and investment income	127,776	128,994	184,077
Other than temporary impairment losses	0	0	0
Miscellaneous - net	(53,214)	(59,271)	(48,124)
TOTAL	167,321	154,028	195,334
INTEREST EXPENSE
Interest expense	606,596	551,521	610,146
Allowance for borrowed funds used during construction	(37,312)	(37,894)	(34,979)
TOTAL	569,284	513,627	575,167
INCOME BEFORE INCOME TAXES	899,218	1,653,635	1,887,544
Income taxes (benefit)	30,855	286,263	617,239
CONSOLIDATED NET INCOME	868,363	1,367,372	1,270,305
Preferred dividend requirements of subsidiaries	21,690	20,933	20,063
NET INCOME	846,673	1,346,439	1,250,242
Earnings per average common share:
Basic	$ 4.77	$ 7.59	$ 6.72
Diluted	$ 4.76	$ 7.55	$ 6.66
Dividends declared per common share	$ 3.32	$ 3.32	$ 3.24
Basic average number of common shares outstanding	177,324,813	177,430,208	186,010,452
Diluted average number of common shares outstanding	177,737,565	178,370,695	187,814,235
Entergy Arkansas [Member]
OPERATING REVENUES
Electric	2,127,004	2,084,310	2,082,447
Operating and Maintenance:
Fuel, fuel-related expenses, and gas purchased for resale	480,464	186,036	378,699
Purchased power	431,932	659,464	485,447
Nuclear refueling outage expenses	47,103	42,557	41,800
Other operation and maintenance	545,782	511,592	495,443
Decommissioning	40,484	38,064	35,790
Taxes other than income taxes	89,527	82,847	85,564
Depreciation and amortization	222,734	218,902	232,085
Other regulatory charges (credits) - net	(38,406)	(13,506)	1,603
TOTAL	1,819,620	1,725,956	1,756,431
OPERATING INCOME	307,384	358,354	326,016
OTHER INCOME
Allowance for equity funds used during construction	9,070	7,660	4,118
Interest and investment income	15,169	16,533	46,363
Miscellaneous - net	(4,049)	(4,172)	(1,743)
TOTAL	20,190	20,021	48,738
INTEREST EXPENSE
Interest expense	82,860	83,545	91,598
Allowance for borrowed funds used during construction	(2,457)	(2,826)	(2,406)
TOTAL	80,403	80,719	89,192
INCOME BEFORE INCOME TAXES	247,171	297,656	285,562
Income taxes (benefit)	94,806	132,765	112,944
CONSOLIDATED NET INCOME	152,365	164,891	172,618
Preferred dividend requirements of subsidiaries	6,873	6,873	6,873
NET INCOME	145,492	158,018	165,745
Entergy Gulf States Louisiana [Member]
OPERATING REVENUES
Electric	1,606,165	2,069,548	2,015,710
Natural gas	48,729	64,861	81,311
TOTAL	1,654,894	2,134,409	2,097,021
Operating and Maintenance:
Fuel, fuel-related expenses, and gas purchased for resale	194,878	437,301	312,960
Purchased power	562,247	780,711	851,694
Nuclear refueling outage expenses	17,565	18,227	24,046
Other operation and maintenance	361,415	351,070	361,329
Decommissioning	15,024	14,189	13,400
Taxes other than income taxes	76,295	75,858	77,519
Depreciation and amortization	146,673	143,387	132,714
Other regulatory charges (credits) - net	31,835	(17,045)	(1,248)
TOTAL	1,405,932	1,803,698	1,772,414
OPERATING INCOME	248,962	330,711	324,607
OTHER INCOME
Allowance for equity funds used during construction	8,694	9,094	5,513
Interest and investment income	42,773	40,945	42,293
Miscellaneous - net	(8,928)	(8,799)	(8,016)
TOTAL	42,539	41,240	39,790
INTEREST EXPENSE
Interest expense	83,251	84,356	101,318
Allowance for borrowed funds used during construction	(3,343)	(3,745)	(3,537)
TOTAL	79,908	80,611	97,781
INCOME BEFORE INCOME TAXES	211,593	291,340	266,616
Income taxes (benefit)	52,616	89,736	92,297
CONSOLIDATED NET INCOME	158,977	201,604	174,319
Preferred dividend requirements of subsidiaries	825	825	827
NET INCOME	158,152	200,779	173,492
Entergy Louisiana [Member]
OPERATING REVENUES
Electric	2,149,443	2,508,915	2,538,766
Operating and Maintenance:
Fuel, fuel-related expenses, and gas purchased for resale	360,964	596,808	667,744
Purchased power	728,170	843,099	847,464
Nuclear refueling outage expenses	24,344	27,903	24,955
Other operation and maintenance	449,172	470,783	432,341
Decommissioning	23,406	24,658	22,960
Taxes other than income taxes	69,186	69,769	68,687
Depreciation and amortization	218,140	206,986	198,133
Other regulatory charges (credits) - net	127,050	182,800	(20,192)
TOTAL	2,000,432	2,422,806	2,242,092
OPERATING INCOME	149,011	86,109	296,674
OTHER INCOME
Allowance for equity funds used during construction	39,610	33,033	26,875
Interest and investment income	84,478	87,487	80,007
Miscellaneous - net	(2,584)	(3,520)	(4,043)
TOTAL	121,504	117,000	102,839
INTEREST EXPENSE
Interest expense	136,967	116,803	119,484
Allowance for borrowed funds used during construction	(18,611)	(17,406)	(17,952)
TOTAL	118,356	99,397	101,532
INCOME BEFORE INCOME TAXES	152,159	103,712	297,981
Income taxes (benefit)	(128,922)	(370,211)	66,546
CONSOLIDATED NET INCOME	281,081	473,923	231,435
Preferred dividend requirements of subsidiaries	6,950	6,950	6,950
NET INCOME	274,131	466,973	224,485
Entergy Mississippi [Member]
OPERATING REVENUES
Electric	1,120,366	1,266,470	1,232,922
Operating and Maintenance:
Fuel, fuel-related expenses, and gas purchased for resale	227,133	363,025	277,806
Purchased power	320,923	339,061	383,769
Other operation and maintenance	244,722	210,657	217,354
Taxes other than income taxes	75,006	69,759	66,841
Depreciation and amortization	97,768	93,119	89,875
Other regulatory charges (credits) - net	(5,701)	9,460	16,001
TOTAL	959,851	1,085,081	1,051,646
OPERATING INCOME	160,515	181,389	181,276
OTHER INCOME
Allowance for equity funds used during construction	3,955	7,755	6,655
Interest and investment income	170	249	416
Miscellaneous - net	(3,951)	(3,904)	(804)
TOTAL	174	4,100	6,267
INTEREST EXPENSE
Interest expense	57,345	52,273	55,774
Allowance for borrowed funds used during construction	(2,103)	(4,314)	(3,719)
TOTAL	55,242	47,959	52,055
INCOME BEFORE INCOME TAXES	105,447	137,530	135,488
Income taxes (benefit)	58,679	28,801	50,111
CONSOLIDATED NET INCOME	46,768	108,729	85,377
Preferred dividend requirements of subsidiaries	2,828	2,828	2,828
NET INCOME	43,940	105,901	82,549
Entergy New Orleans [Member]
OPERATING REVENUES
Electric	487,633	529,228	543,102
Natural gas	82,107	100,957	116,347
TOTAL	569,740	630,185	659,449
Operating and Maintenance:
Fuel, fuel-related expenses, and gas purchased for resale	107,616	173,668	169,644
Purchased power	222,193	207,604	218,025
Other operation and maintenance	122,143	106,817	130,917
Taxes other than income taxes	43,189	42,032	44,749
Depreciation and amortization	36,726	35,026	35,354
Other regulatory charges (credits) - net	1,983	1,910	(1,072)
TOTAL	533,850	567,057	597,617
OPERATING INCOME	35,890	63,128	61,832
OTHER INCOME
Allowance for equity funds used during construction	791	622	667
Interest and investment income	47	154	544
Miscellaneous - net	(1,453)	(1,234)	(2,478)
TOTAL	(615)	(458)	(1,267)
INTEREST EXPENSE
Interest expense	11,344	11,114	13,170
Allowance for borrowed funds used during construction	(374)	(282)	(320)
TOTAL	10,970	10,832	12,850
INCOME BEFORE INCOME TAXES	24,305	51,838	47,715
Income taxes (benefit)	7,240	15,862	16,601
CONSOLIDATED NET INCOME	17,065	35,976	31,114
Preferred dividend requirements of subsidiaries	965	965	965
NET INCOME	16,100	35,011	30,149
Entergy Texas [Member]
OPERATING REVENUES
Electric	1,581,496	1,757,199	1,690,431
Operating and Maintenance:
Fuel, fuel-related expenses, and gas purchased for resale	243,877	352,022	343,083
Purchased power	717,876	775,067	743,438
Other operation and maintenance	233,503	214,191	209,699
Taxes other than income taxes	59,348	69,329	63,897
Depreciation and amortization	88,307	79,263	76,057
Other regulatory charges (credits) - net	68,772	52,307	63,683
TOTAL	1,411,683	1,542,179	1,499,857
OPERATING INCOME	169,813	215,020	190,574
OTHER INCOME
Allowance for equity funds used during construction	4,537	3,781	5,661
Interest and investment income	(2,220)	5,528	7,222
Miscellaneous - net	(4,264)	(3,047)	(3,220)
TOTAL	(1,947)	6,262	9,663
INTEREST EXPENSE
Interest expense	96,035	93,554	95,272
Allowance for borrowed funds used during construction	(3,258)	(2,609)	(3,618)
TOTAL	92,777	90,945	91,654
INCOME BEFORE INCOME TAXES	75,089	130,337	108,583
Income taxes (benefit)	33,118	49,492	42,383
CONSOLIDATED NET INCOME	41,971	80,845	66,200
System Energy [Member]
OPERATING REVENUES
Electric	622,118	563,411	558,584
Operating and Maintenance:
Fuel, fuel-related expenses, and gas purchased for resale	62,918	76,353	69,962
Nuclear refueling outage expenses	21,824	16,314	17,398
Other operation and maintenance	149,346	136,495	124,690
Decommissioning	33,019	31,460	31,374
Taxes other than income taxes	19,468	21,425	23,412
Depreciation and amortization	154,561	142,543	138,641
Other regulatory charges (credits) - net	(10,429)	(11,781)	(12,040)
TOTAL	430,707	412,809	393,437
OPERATING INCOME	191,411	150,602	165,147
OTHER INCOME
Allowance for equity funds used during construction	26,102	22,359	9,892
Interest and investment income	10,134	8,294	12,639
Miscellaneous - net	(617)	(699)	(518)
TOTAL	35,619	29,954	22,013
INTEREST EXPENSE
Interest expense	45,214	48,117	51,912
Allowance for borrowed funds used during construction	(7,165)	(6,711)	(3,425)
TOTAL	38,049	41,406	48,487
INCOME BEFORE INCOME TAXES	188,981	139,150	138,673
Income taxes (benefit)	77,115	74,953	56,049
CONSOLIDATED NET INCOME	$ 111,866	$ 64,197	$ 82,624