Commitments And Contingencies (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended																		12 Months Ended						216 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012 item	Dec. 31, 2012 Utility Plants [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Entergy Arkansas [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Entergy Arkansas [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Entergy Gulf States Louisiana [Member] plaintiff claim	Dec. 31, 2012 Entergy Mississippi [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Entergy Mississippi [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Entergy Texas [Member] plaintiff claim	Dec. 31, 2012 System Energy [Member] item	Dec. 31, 2012 Entergy New Orleans [Member] plaintiff claim	Dec. 31, 2011 Entergy New Orleans [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Entergy Louisiana [Member] plaintiff claim	Dec. 31, 2011 Entergy Louisiana [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Entergy Louisiana [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Primary Layer [Member] Utility Plants [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Primary Layer [Member] Entergy Wholesale Commodities [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Excess Layer [Member] Utility Plants [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Excess Layer [Member] Entergy Wholesale Commodities [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Blanket Layer [Member] Utility Plants [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Blanket Layer [Member] Entergy Wholesale Commodities [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Waterford 3 [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Grand Gulf [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Indian Point 2 Indian Point 3 And Palisades [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Fitzpatrick And Pilgrim [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Vermont Yankee [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Scenario, Forecast [Member] Entergy Louisiana [Member]	Dec. 31, 2031 Scenario, Forecast [Member] Entergy Louisiana [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Turbine And Generator Damage [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Turbine And Generator Damage [Member] Entergy Wholesale Commodities [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Other Than Turbine And Generator Damage [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Other Than Turbine And Generator Damage [Member] Entergy Wholesale Commodities [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Windstorm, Flood, Earthquake, Or Volcanic Eruption [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Windstorm, Flood, Earthquake, Or Volcanic Eruption [Member] Entergy Wholesale Commodities [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Operational Perils [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Operational Perils [Member] Entergy New Orleans [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Natural Perils [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Natural Perils [Member] Entergy New Orleans [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Other Natural Perils [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Flooding Or Property Value Greater Than 20 Million [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Minimum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Minimum [Member] Entergy Arkansas [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Minimum [Member] Entergy Mississippi [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Minimum [Member] Entergy New Orleans [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Minimum [Member] Entergy Louisiana [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Maximum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Maximum [Member] Entergy Arkansas [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Maximum [Member] Entergy Mississippi [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Maximum [Member] Entergy New Orleans [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Maximum [Member] Entergy Louisiana [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Four Nuclear Locations [Member]
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
Payments made under purchased power agreement												$ 125,000,000	$ 185,600,000	$ 216,500,000
Required energy for the production of Vidalia project in percentage												94.00%
Estimated payments under purchased power agreement																										174,900,000,000	2,370,000,000
Credit rates agreed by subsidiary for each year under settlement related to tax benefits from tax treatment of purchased power agreement												11,000,000
Number of years for which credit rates agreed by subsidiary under settlement related to tax benefits from the tax treatment of purchased power agreement												10 years
Resulted credit rate with interest by IRS settlement												11,300,000
Amount of remaining benefits of tax credit by crediting rate payers												20,235,000
Maximum period up to which remaining benefit of tax accounting election shared												15 years
Regulatory charges												199,000,000
Insurance coverage for public liability by American Nuclear Insurers	375,000,000
Maximum retrospective insurance premium obligation per reactor per incident	117,500,000
Maximum total contingent obligation per incident	1,300,000,000
Maximum retrospective insurance premium obligation excluding surcharge per reactor per incident	111,900,000
Surcharge on maximum retrospective premium	5.00%
Rate of maximum retrospective premium per year per nuclear power reactor	17,500,000
ANI combined with Secondary Financial Protection Coverage	12,600,000,000
Additional damage coverage for a terrorist event	100,000,000,000
Number of nuclear reactor included in the Secondary Financial Protection program	104
Total premium for reactor under secondary financial protection program	12,200,000,000
Ownership percentage by a non-affiliated company in Variable interest entity	10.00%
Property Insurance insured amount per occurrence		1,600,000,000													500,000,000	500,000,000	750,000,000	615,000,000	350,000,000	1,115,000,000
Property insurance deductibles per occurrence																												2,500,000	2,500,000	2,500,000	2,500,000	10,000,000	10,000,000
Additional deductible percentage																																10.00%	10.00%
Weekly indemnity																					2,950,000	400,000,000	4,500,000	4,000,000	3,500,000
Maximum indemnity																					413,000,000	56,000,000	490,000,000	490,000,000	435,000,000
Waiting period																					182 days	182 days	84 days	84 days	84 days
Property insurance minimum requirement per site for nuclear power plant licensees	1,060,000,000
Maximum recovery nuclear insurance policies for property damage caused by Terrorist Act	3,240,000,000
Maximum conventional property insurance coverage on an each and every loss basis										50,000,000																								400,000,000		400,000,000		125,000,000
Self-insured retention per occurrence																																			20,000,000		40,000,000
Minimum value of power plants, substations to be covered under conventional property insurance	5,000,000
Amount of additional insurance coverage per occurrence	20,000,000
Purchase of terrorism insurance coverage	300,000,000
Number of asbestos lawsuits					400			500		500		500
Deductible after additional coverage purchased																																							500,000,000	100,000,000					250,000,000					2,500,000
Number of claimants in asbestos lawsuits					5,000			5,000		5,000		5,000
Value of properties that do not qualify for low deductible	20,000,000
Percentage of capacity and energy agreed to sell by system energy from grand gulf			36.00%			33.00%				17.00%		14.00%
Average monthly payments under unit power sales agreement				19,000,000			16,100,000				9,200,000		7,600,000
Purchased percentage of capacity and energy based on agreement			17.10%			31.30%				24.70%		26.90%
Amortization period of cost																																									2 years	2 years	2 years	2 years		27 years	27 years	27 years	27 years
Allocated amortization cost in percentage						(43.97%)				(29.80%)		(26.23%)
sold and leased back undivided ownership interests in Grand Gulf									$ 500,000,000
Ratio of debt to total liabilities and equity to be maintained under Reimbursement Agreement									70.00%
Ratio of adjusted net income to interest expense to be maintained under Reimbursement Agreement.									1.50