Short-Term Borrowing (Details) - USD ($)	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Short-term Debt [Line Items]
Commercial paper, outstanding	$ 836,000,000	$ 1,054,000,000
Weighted average interest rate (percent)	1.10%	1.00%
Loans outstanding under credit agreement	$ 0	$ 0
Letters of credit outstanding under the Credit Agreement	0	2,000,000
CECONY
Short-term Debt [Line Items]
Commercial paper, outstanding	$ 445,000,000	$ 600,000,000
Weighted average interest rate (percent)	1.10%	1.00%
Letters of credit outstanding under the Credit Agreement	$ 0	$ 2,000,000

Weighted Average Interest Rate Of Commercial Paper

No definition available.

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Namespace Prefix:	ed_
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- Definition

Carrying value as of the balance sheet date of short-term borrowings using unsecured obligations issued by banks, corporations and other borrowers to investors. The maturities of these money market securities generally do not exceed 270 days.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02(19)(a)(3))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.7-03(a)(16))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6879938&loc=d3e572229-122910

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.9-03(13)(2))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6876686&loc=d3e534808-122878

+ Details

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Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The total amount of the contingent obligation under letters of credit outstanding as of the reporting date.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Carrying value as of the balance sheet date of portion of long-term loans payable due within one year or the operating cycle if longer.

+ References

+ Details

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- 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

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Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

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