Income Taxes (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009	Dec. 31, 2008
Income Tax Interest Income	$ 12,000,000
Bonus depreciation allowance	50.00%
Reductions of deferred tax assets from the enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act		57,000,000
Federal loss carryforwards	1,000,000,000
Unrecognized tax benefits	347,000,000	307,000,000	291,000,000	404,000,000
Change in unrecognized tax benefits	51,000,000	38,000,000	(26,000,000)
Decreases-prior period positions	(107,000,000)	(59,000,000)	(142,000,000)
Earnings increase	7,000,000
Dominion [Member]
State loss carryforwards	346,000,000
Decreases-prior period positions	(18,000,000)
Dominion And Its Subsidiaries [Member]
Unrecognized tax benefits	184,000,000	133,000,000	95,000,000
Virginia Power [Member]
Decreases-prior period positions	(8,000,000)
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) [Member]
Tax credits	13,000,000
State and Local Jurisdiction [Member]
State loss carryforwards	1,100,000,000
Carryforwards valuation allowance	866,000,000
General Business [Member] | State and Local Jurisdiction [Member]
Tax credits	101,000,000
Investment Credit That Expires In 2014 [Member] | State and Local Jurisdiction [Member]
Tax credits	6,000,000
Investment Credits That Do Not Expire [Member] | State and Local Jurisdiction [Member]
Tax credits	3,000,000
Settlement of Litigation [Member]
Decreases-prior period positions	$ (24,000,000)