XML 122 R106.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.10.0.1

Debt and Capital Leases - Senior Notes Repurchases (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended			12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2018	Sep. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2018	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 07, 2017
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Loss on debt extinguishment				$ 44	$ 49	$ 142
Senior Notes
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Loss on debt extinguishment				38
Write off of deferred debt issuance cost				7
Recourse Debt | Senior Notes
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Loss on debt extinguishment					49
Write off of deferred debt issuance cost					7
Principal Repurchased	$ 1,061	$ 576	$ 43	1,061	1,473
Cash Paid	1,106	$ 598	$ 45	$ 1,106	$ 1,544
Average Early Redemption Percentage				25.00%
Accrued interest	$ 14			$ 14
Recourse Debt | Senior notes, due 2028
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest rate, stated percentage	5.75%	5.75%	5.75%	5.75%			5.75%
Principal Repurchased		$ 20	$ 29
Cash Paid		$ 20	$ 30
Average Early Redemption Percentage		99.13%	99.24%
Recourse Debt | Senior notes, due 2022
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest rate, stated percentage	6.25%	6.25%	6.25%	6.25%
Principal Repurchased	$ 485	$ 493	$ 14	$ 485
Cash Paid	$ 508	$ 512	$ 15	$ 508
Average Early Redemption Percentage	103.125%	103.13%	103.25%
Recourse Debt | Senior notes, due 2027
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest rate, stated percentage	6.625%	6.625%		6.625%
Principal Repurchased		$ 20
Cash Paid		$ 21
Average Early Redemption Percentage		103.06%

X

- Definition

Debt Instrument, Principal Amount Repurchased

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	nrg_DebtInstrumentPrincipalAmountRepurchased
Namespace Prefix:	nrg_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

X

- Definition

Contractual interest rate for funds borrowed, under the debt agreement.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.22(a)(1))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentInterestRateStatedPercentage
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

X

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

X

- Definition

Percentage of principal amount of debt redeemed.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentRedemptionPricePercentageOfPrincipalAmountRedeemed
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Fair value amount of debt instrument that was repurchased.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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

X

- Definition

Difference between the fair value of payments made and the carrying amount of debt which is extinguished prior to maturity.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 470
-SubTopic 50
-Section 40
-Paragraph 4
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=114001942&loc=d3e12355-112629

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 470
-SubTopic 50
-Section 40
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=114001942&loc=d3e12317-112629

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 28
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109223946&loc=d3e3602-108585

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_GainsLossesOnExtinguishmentOfDebt
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Amount of interest payable on debt, including, but not limited to, trade payables.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.9-03.15(5))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6876686&loc=d3e534808-122878

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.7-03.15(a))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6879938&loc=d3e572229-122910

+ Details

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

X

- Definition

Write-off of amounts previously capitalized as debt issuance cost in an extinguishment of debt.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 220
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-03.8)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=115205541&loc=SL114868664-224227

+ Details

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

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=us-gaap_SeniorNotesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_LongtermDebtTypeAxis=nrg_RecourseDebtMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=nrg_SeniorNotesdue2028Member
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=nrg_SeniorNotesDueIn2022Member
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=nrg_SeniorNotesdue2027Member
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: