FAIR VALUE OF FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS (Details) (USD $)	Sep. 30, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Fair Value Balance Sheet Grouping Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Temporary Equity, Carrying Amount, Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	$ 155,568,000	$ 155,568,000
Carrying Reported Amount Fair Value Disclosure [Member]
Fair Value Balance Sheet Grouping Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Temporary Equity, Carrying Amount, Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	155,600,000	155,600,000
Other Long Term Debt	8,412,600,000	8,310,200,000
Estimate Of Fair Value Fair Value Disclosure [Member]
Fair Value Balance Sheet Grouping Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Temporary Equity, Carrying Amount, Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	151,000,000	152,700,000
Other Long Term Debt	8,876,300,000	8,443,100,000
The Connecticut Light And Power Company [Member]
Fair Value Balance Sheet Grouping Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Temporary Equity, Carrying Amount, Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	116,200,000	116,200,000
The Connecticut Light And Power Company [Member] | Carrying Reported Amount Fair Value Disclosure [Member]
Fair Value Balance Sheet Grouping Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Temporary Equity, Carrying Amount, Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	116,200,000	116,200,000
Other Long Term Debt	2,841,800,000	2,741,200,000
The Connecticut Light And Power Company [Member] | Estimate Of Fair Value Fair Value Disclosure [Member]
Fair Value Balance Sheet Grouping Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Temporary Equity, Carrying Amount, Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	110,100,000	110,500,000
Other Long Term Debt	3,189,500,000	2,952,800,000
NSTAR Electric Company [Member]
Fair Value Balance Sheet Grouping Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Temporary Equity, Carrying Amount, Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	43,000,000	43,000,000
NSTAR Electric Company [Member] | Carrying Reported Amount Fair Value Disclosure [Member]
Fair Value Balance Sheet Grouping Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Temporary Equity, Carrying Amount, Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	43,000,000	43,000,000
Other Long Term Debt	1,797,400,000	1,801,100,000
NSTAR Electric Company [Member] | Estimate Of Fair Value Fair Value Disclosure [Member]
Fair Value Balance Sheet Grouping Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Temporary Equity, Carrying Amount, Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	40,900,000	42,200,000
Other Long Term Debt	1,959,400,000	1,888,000,000
Public Service Company Of New Hampshire [Member] | Carrying Reported Amount Fair Value Disclosure [Member]
Fair Value Balance Sheet Grouping Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Other Long Term Debt	999,200,000	1,049,000,000
Public Service Company Of New Hampshire [Member] | Estimate Of Fair Value Fair Value Disclosure [Member]
Fair Value Balance Sheet Grouping Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Other Long Term Debt	1,046,400,000	1,073,900,000
Western Massachusetts Electric Company [Member] | Carrying Reported Amount Fair Value Disclosure [Member]
Fair Value Balance Sheet Grouping Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Other Long Term Debt	628,700,000	629,400,000
Western Massachusetts Electric Company [Member] | Estimate Of Fair Value Fair Value Disclosure [Member]
Fair Value Balance Sheet Grouping Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Other Long Term Debt	$ 667,400,000	$ 640,100,000