WILDFIRE-RELATED CONTINGENCIES (2017 Northern California Wildfires Background) (Details) a in Thousands	Jan. 04, 2019 wildfire	Oct. 30, 2017 a fatality structure wildfire
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Number of wildfires (wildfire)	18
Pacific Gas & Electric Co | 2017 Northern California wildfires
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Number of wildfires (wildfire)		21
Number of acres burned (acre) | a		245
Number of structures destroyed (structure) | structure		8,900
Number of fatalities (fatality) | fatality		44