Benefit Plans and Other Postretirement Benefits - Narrative (Details) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2022 USD ($) benefitPlan	Dec. 31, 2021 USD ($)
Benefit Plans and Other Postretirement Benefits
Number of qualified pension plans \| benefitPlan	3
Pension Benefits
Benefit Plans and Other Postretirement Benefits
Expects to contribute to the pension plans	$ 83
Actuarial gain	289	$ 55
Pension Benefits \| GenOn
Benefit Plans and Other Postretirement Benefits
Expects to contribute to the pension plans	$ 45

Number Of Defined Benefit Plans

No definition available.

Name:	nrg_NumberOfDefinedBenefitPlans
Namespace Prefix:	nrg_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of gain (loss) from change in actuarial assumptions which (increases) decreases benefit obligation of defined benefit plan. Assumptions include, but are not limited to, interest, mortality, employee turnover, salary, and temporary deviation from substantive plan.

+ References

+ Details

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

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

- Definition

Amount of contribution expected to be received by defined benefit plan from employer in next fiscal year following current fiscal year.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 715
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (g)
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123447040&loc=d3e1928-114920

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/exampleRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 715
-SubTopic 20
-Section 55
-Paragraph 18
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123450688&loc=d3e4587-114921

+ Details

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

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RetirementPlanTypeAxis=us-gaap_PensionPlansDefinedBenefitMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	dei_LegalEntityAxis=nrg_GenOnMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: