CONTINGENCIES AND COMMITMENTS (Northern California Wildfires) (Details) insurance_claim in Thousands, a in Thousands, $ in Thousands			1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Oct. 30, 2018 USD ($) lawsuit complaint plaintiff incident_report	Sep. 06, 2018 USD ($) insurance_claim	Oct. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2018 USD ($) wildfire	Jun. 30, 2018 USD ($) wildfire lawsuit	Sep. 30, 2018 USD ($) wildfire	Sep. 30, 2017 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Nov. 20, 2017 lawsuit	Oct. 30, 2017 a wildfire fatality structure
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Regulatory assets				$ 4,429,000		$ 4,429,000		$ 3,793,000
Capital expenditures						348,000	$ 301,000
Regulatory assets, current				229,000		229,000		615,000
Wildfire expense memorandum account
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Regulatory assets				77,000		77,000		0
Catastrophic Event Memorandum Account
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Regulatory assets				$ 760,000		$ 760,000		$ 274,000
Securities Class Actions Filed in United States District Court for the Northern District of California
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Number of lawsuits filed against company (lawsuit, complaint) | lawsuit					2
Nothern California Wild Fire
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Number wildfires (wildfire) | wildfire				17		17				21
Number of acres burned (acre) | a										245
Number of structures destroyed (structure) | structure										8,900
Number of fatalities (fatality) | fatality										44
Number of fires in which determination has been reported on (wildfire) | wildfire				17	16	17
Number of fires cause by trees contact with power lines (wildfire) | wildfire					4
Number of fires caused by electric power and distribution lines, conductors and the failure of power poles (wildfire) | wildfire					12
Number of fires with probable losses (wildfire) | wildfire				14		14
Loss from claims related to wildfire					$ 2,500,000
Nothern California Wild Fire | Catastrophic Event Memorandum Account
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Regulatory assets, current				$ 101,000		$ 101,000
Decrease current regulatory assets				40,000
Breach of Fiduciary Duties | Derivative Lawsuits Filed in the San Francisco County Superior Court
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Number of lawsuits filed against company (lawsuit, complaint) | lawsuit									2
Nothern California Wild Fire
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Insurance claims received by insurers (insurance claim) | insurance_claim		55
Total insurance claims received by insurers		$ 12,280,000
Statewide insurance claims related to wildfire		$ 10,000,000
Liability insurance coverage				840,000		840,000
Initial self-insured retention per occurrence				10,000		10,000
Further retention per occurrence				$ 40,000		40,000
Probable insurance recoveries						385,000
Service restoration and repair costs						308,000
Capital expenditures						$ 145,000
Subsequent Event | Loss from Catastrophes | Complaints Against PG&E Corporation and the Utility in San Francisco Counties Superior Courts
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Number of lawsuits filed against company (lawsuit, complaint) | complaint	500
Number of plaintiffs in lawsuit (plaintiff) | plaintiff	3,100
Subsequent Event | Loss from Catastrophes | Lawsuits Against PG&E Corporation and the Utility in the Sonoma, Napa and San Francisco Counties Superior Courts, Classified As Class Actions
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Number of lawsuits filed against company (lawsuit, complaint) | lawsuit	5
Subsequent Event | Loss from Catastrophes | Complaints Brought By Butte County District Attorney [Member]
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Settlement expense			$ 1,500
Settlement agreement term			4 years
Subsequent Event | Loss from Catastrophes | Subrogation Complaints Against PG&E Corporation and the Utility in San Francisco County Superior Courts
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Number of lawsuits filed against company (lawsuit, complaint) | complaint	36
Subsequent Event | Nothern California Wild Fire
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Number of electric incident reports submitted (incident report) | incident_report	23
Property damage coverage per incident	$ 50