XML 119 R69.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v2.4.1.9
Short-Term Borrowings and Credit Arrangements (Details) (USD $)
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2014
Dec. 31, 2013
Short-term Debt [Line Items]    
Commercial Paper, Balance $ 267,840,000us-gaap_CommercialPaper $ 140,950,000us-gaap_CommercialPaper
Maximum borrowing capacity under commercial paper program 340,000,000nwe_ShortTermDebtUnsecuredMaximumAggregateOutstandingAmountIssuable  
Short term borrowings maximum days outstanding 270 days  
Short-term Debt [Member]    
Short-term Debt [Line Items]    
Commercial Paper, Balance 267,800,000us-gaap_CommercialPaper
/ us-gaap_ShortTermDebtTypeAxis
= us-gaap_ShortTermDebtMember
141,000,000us-gaap_CommercialPaper
/ us-gaap_ShortTermDebtTypeAxis
= us-gaap_ShortTermDebtMember
Commercial Paper, Interest Rate 0.50%us-gaap_DebtInstrumentInterestRateEffectivePercentage
/ us-gaap_ShortTermDebtTypeAxis
= us-gaap_ShortTermDebtMember
0.41%us-gaap_DebtInstrumentInterestRateEffectivePercentage
/ us-gaap_ShortTermDebtTypeAxis
= us-gaap_ShortTermDebtMember
Maximum short-term debt outstanding 276,900,000us-gaap_ShorttermDebtMaximumAmountOutstandingDuringPeriod
/ us-gaap_ShortTermDebtTypeAxis
= us-gaap_ShortTermDebtMember
199,900,000us-gaap_ShorttermDebtMaximumAmountOutstandingDuringPeriod
/ us-gaap_ShortTermDebtTypeAxis
= us-gaap_ShortTermDebtMember
Average short-term debt outstanding $ 132,500,000us-gaap_ShorttermDebtAverageOutstandingAmount
/ us-gaap_ShortTermDebtTypeAxis
= us-gaap_ShortTermDebtMember
$ 69,000,000us-gaap_ShorttermDebtAverageOutstandingAmount
/ us-gaap_ShortTermDebtTypeAxis
= us-gaap_ShortTermDebtMember
Weighted average interest rate 0.39%us-gaap_ShortTermDebtWeightedAverageInterestRate
/ us-gaap_ShortTermDebtTypeAxis
= us-gaap_ShortTermDebtMember
0.40%us-gaap_ShortTermDebtWeightedAverageInterestRate
/ us-gaap_ShortTermDebtTypeAxis
= us-gaap_ShortTermDebtMember