Long-Term Debt and Liquidity Matters (Details) (USD $)												12 Months Ended						12 Months Ended						12 Months Ended		1 Months Ended			1 Months Ended					1 Months Ended		3 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2011 Maximum	Dec. 31, 2011 Pinnacle West	Dec. 31, 2010 Pinnacle West	Dec. 31, 2011 ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Dec. 31, 2010 ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Dec. 31, 2011 ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY ACC	Dec. 31, 2011 ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY ACC Minimum	Dec. 31, 2011 Pollution Control Bonds - Variable ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Dec. 31, 2010 Pollution Control Bonds - Variable ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Dec. 31, 2011 Pollution Control Bonds - Fixed ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Dec. 31, 2010 Pollution Control Bonds - Fixed ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Dec. 31, 2011 Pollution control bonds with senior notes ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Dec. 31, 2010 Pollution control bonds with senior notes ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Dec. 31, 2011 Total Pollution Control Bonds ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Dec. 31, 2010 Total Pollution Control Bonds ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Dec. 31, 2011 Senior unsecured notes ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Dec. 31, 2010 Senior unsecured notes ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Dec. 31, 2011 Palo Verde sale leaseback lessor notes ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Dec. 31, 2010 Palo Verde sale leaseback lessor notes ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Dec. 31, 2011 Capitalized lease obligations ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Dec. 31, 2010 Capitalized lease obligations ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Dec. 31, 2011 Term loan facility Pinnacle West	Feb. 28, 2011 Term loan facility Pinnacle West	Feb. 28, 2011 5.91% Senior Notes Pinnacle West	Dec. 31, 2010 5.91% Senior Notes Pinnacle West	Dec. 08, 2011 Long term debt ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Aug. 31, 2011 5.05% unsecured senior notes due 2041 ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Dec. 31, 2011 5.05% unsecured senior notes due 2041 ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Aug. 25, 2011 5.05% unsecured senior notes due 2041 ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Aug. 25, 2011 6.375% senior notes due 2011 ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Sep. 07, 2011 Pollution Control Revenue Refunding Bonds ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Jan. 31, 2012 4.50% unsecured senior notes that mature on April 1, 2042 ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Jan. 10, 2012 4.50% unsecured senior notes that mature on April 1, 2042 ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY	Mar. 31, 2012 6.50% senior notes due March 1, 2012 ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY
Long-Term Debt and Liquidity Matters
Long-term debt before deducting unamortized discount				$ 3,504,000,000		$ 3,379,000,000				$ 43,580,000	$ 43,580,000	$ 522,275,000	$ 522,275,000	$ 90,000,000	$ 90,000,000	$ 655,855,000	$ 655,855,000	$ 2,625,000,000	$ 2,725,000,000			$ 1,029,000	$ 2,001,000
Palo Verde sale leaseback lessor notes long-term debt excluding current maturities	65,547,000	96,803,000				65,547,000	96,803,000													96,803,000	126,000,000
Unamortized discount						(7,198,000)	(6,183,000)
Long-term debt																								125,000,000	175,000,000
Long-term debt	3,496,000,000	3,678,000,000		125,000,000	175,000,000	3,371,489,000	3,502,673,000																				175,000,000
Long-term debt less current maturities (Note 6)	2,953,507,000	2,948,991,000				2,828,507,000	2,948,991,000
Less current maturities	477,435,000	631,879,000			175,000,000	477,435,000	456,879,000
Interest rate (as a percent)														5.05%	5.05%					8.00%	8.00%						5.91%			5.05%	5.05%	6.375%			4.50%	6.50%
Total long-term debt less current maturities	3,019,054,000	3,045,794,000		125,000,000		2,894,054,000	3,045,794,000
Interest Rates, low end of range (as a percent)												2.875%	2.875%					4.65%	4.65%
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%	0.32%											5.27%	5.29%	1.794%
Estimated fair value of long-term debt, including current maturities
Carrying Amount	3,496,000,000	3,678,000,000		125,000,000	175,000,000	3,371,489,000	3,502,673,000																				175,000,000
Fair Value	3,926,000,000	3,913,000,000		123,000,000	176,000,000	3,803,000,000	3,737,000,000
Repayment of debt																								50,000,000		175,000,000										375,000,000
Notes issued																													300,000,000					325,000,000
Aggregate principal amount																																400,000,000	27,000,000
Extended amount of letter of credit																												17,000,000
Debt Provisions
Actual ratio of consolidated debt to total consolidated capitalization required to be maintained as per the debt covenant (as a percent)				47.00%		46.00%
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	3,821,850,000	3,683,327,000		3,821,850,000	3,683,327,000	3,943,007,000	3,824,953,000	3,900,000,000
Total capitalization								7,200,000,000
Dividend restrictions, shareholder equity required									$ 2,900,000,000