Long-Term Debt and Liquidity Matters (Details) (USD $)														12 Months Ended					12 Months Ended								1 Months Ended			0 Months Ended				0 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2012 Maximum	Dec. 31, 2012 Pinnacle West	Dec. 31, 2011 Pinnacle West	Dec. 31, 2012 ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Dec. 31, 2011 ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Dec. 31, 2012 ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY ACC	Dec. 31, 2012 ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY ACC Minimum	Dec. 31, 2012 Pollution Control Bonds - Variable ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Dec. 31, 2011 Pollution Control Bonds - Variable ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Dec. 31, 2012 Pollution Control Bonds - Variable ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY Minimum	Dec. 31, 2012 Pollution Control Bonds - Variable ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY Maximum	Dec. 31, 2012 Pollution Control Bonds - Fixed ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Dec. 31, 2011 Pollution Control Bonds - Fixed ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Dec. 31, 2011 Pollution control bonds with senior notes ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Dec. 31, 2012 Total Pollution Control Bonds ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Dec. 31, 2011 Total Pollution Control Bonds ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Dec. 31, 2012 Senior unsecured notes ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Dec. 31, 2011 Senior unsecured notes ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Dec. 31, 2012 Palo Verde sale leaseback lessor notes ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Dec. 31, 2011 Palo Verde sale leaseback lessor notes ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Dec. 31, 2011 Capitalized lease obligations ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Dec. 31, 2012 Term loan facility Pinnacle West	Nov. 29, 2012 Term loan facility Pinnacle West	Dec. 31, 2011 Term loan facility Pinnacle West	Nov. 30, 2012 Term Loan Pinnacle West	Jan. 31, 2012 4.50% unsecured senior notes that mature on April 1, 2042 ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Jan. 13, 2012 4.50% unsecured senior notes that mature on April 1, 2042 ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Mar. 02, 2012 6.50% senior notes due March 1, 2012 ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Dec. 31, 2012 Pollution Control Revenue Refunding Bonds, 2009 Series B ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	May 01, 2012 Pollution Control Revenue Refunding Bonds, 2009 Series B ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Jun. 02, 2012 Pollution Control Revenue Refunding Bonds, 2009 Series A ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Nov. 02, 2012 Pollution Control Revenue Refunding Bonds, 2002 Series A ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY
Long-Term Debt and Liquidity Matters
Long-term debt before deducting unamortized discount				$ 3,331,000,000		$ 3,206,000,000				$ 75,580,000	$ 43,580,000			$ 490,275,000	$ 522,275,000	$ 90,000,000	$ 565,855,000	$ 655,855,000	$ 2,575,000,000	$ 2,625,000,000			$ 1,029,000									$ 32,000,000	$ 38,000,000
Palo Verde sale leaseback lessor notes long-term debt excluding current maturities	38,869,000	65,547,000				38,869,000	65,547,000														65,547,000	96,803,000
Unamortized discount						(9,486,000)	(7,198,000)
Long-term debt	3,322,000,000	3,496,000,000																						125,000,000	125,000,000	125,000,000
Long-term debt				125,000,000	125,000,000	3,196,916,000	3,371,489,000
Less current maturities	(122,828,000)	(477,435,000)				(122,828,000)	(477,435,000)
Total long-term debt less current maturities						3,074,088,000	2,894,054,000
Interest rate (as a percent)																5.05%					8.00%	8.00%							4.50%	6.50%			1.25%
Long-term debt less current maturities	3,199,088,000	3,019,054,000		125,000,000	125,000,000
Interest Rates, low end of range (as a percent)														1.25%	1.25%				4.50%	4.50%
Interest Rates, high end of range (as a percent)														6.00%	6.00%				8.75%	8.75%
Weighted-average interest rate (as a percent)											0.09%	0.13%	0.15%										5.27%	1.312%		1.794%
Estimated fair value of long-term debt, including current maturities
Carrying Amount				125,000,000	125,000,000	3,196,916,000	3,371,489,000
Long-term debt	3,322,000,000	3,496,000,000																						125,000,000	125,000,000	125,000,000
Fair Value	3,875,000,000	3,926,000,000		125,000,000	123,000,000	3,750,000,000	3,803,000,000
Principal balance repaid																											125,000,000			375,000,000
Notes issued																												325,000,000
Daily rate (as a percent)																															0.13%
Amount of debt redeemed																																		90,000,000
Debt Provisions
Actual ratio of consolidated debt to total consolidated capitalization required to be maintained as per the debt covenant (as a percent)				46.00%		45.00%
Ratio of consolidated debt to consolidated capitalization (as a percent)			65.00%
Required common equity ratio ordered by ACC (as a percent)									40.00%
Total shareholder equity	3,972,806,000	3,821,850,000		3,972,807,000	3,821,850,000	4,093,000,000	3,943,007,000	4,100,000,000
Total capitalization								7,200,000,000
Dividend restrictions, shareholder equity required									$ 2,900,000,000