Fair Value of Financial Assets and Liabilities Fair Value Phantom (Details) - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Fair Value Hedges, Net	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0
Collateral Already Posted Adequate Assurance Clauses Aggregate Fair Value	0	0
Return Cash Collateral	32,000,000	32,000,000
Commodity Contract
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Transfers Between Levels, Net	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0

Amount of obligation to return cash collateral under master netting arrangements offset against derivative assets.

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=51824906&loc=SL20225862-175312

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 815
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 5
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=117331979&loc=d3e41228-113958

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DerivativeAssetCollateralObligationToReturnCashOffset
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FairValueAssetsAndLiabilitiesMeasuredOnRecurringAndNonrecurringBasisLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Net fair value of all derivative instruments designated as fair value hedging instruments.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 815
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 5
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=117331979&loc=d3e41228-113958

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FairValueHedgesAtFairValueNet
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of transfers of financial instrument classified as a derivative asset (liability) after deduction of derivative liability (asset) into (out of) level 3 of the fair value hierarchy.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 820
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=117815213&loc=d3e19279-110258

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FairValueNetDerivativeAssetLiabilityMeasuredOnRecurringBasisUnobservableInputsReconciliationTransfersNet
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The aggregate fair value of assets that are already posted, at the end of the reporting period, as collateral for derivative instruments with credit-risk-related contingent features for adequate assurance clauses.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	xel_CollateralAlreadyPostedAdequateAssuranceClausesAggregateFairValue
Namespace Prefix:	xel_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DerivativeInstrumentRiskAxis=us-gaap_CommodityContractMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: