Commitments And Contingent Liabilities (Environmental Matters) (Detail) (USD $)							1 Months Ended							9 Months Ended			9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013 entity Station site mi	Dec. 31, 2012	Apr. 30, 2009 MW Turbines	Sep. 30, 2013 PSE And G [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 PSE And G [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 PSEG [Member]	Jun. 30, 2008 Passaic River Site Contingency [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Passaic River Site Contingency [Member]	Dec. 31, 2003 Passaic River Site Contingency [Member] Potentially_Responsible_Party	Sep. 30, 2013 Passaic River Site Contingency [Member] PSE And G [Member] Plant	Feb. 28, 2009 Passaic River Site Contingency [Member] Power [Member] Defendant	Sep. 30, 2013 PSE&G's Former MGP Sites [Member] site	Sep. 30, 2013 PSE&G's Former MGP Sites [Member] PSE And G [Member] Potentially_Responsible_Party Person	Sep. 30, 2013 PSD NSR Regulations Site Contingency [Member] Power [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 MGP Remediation Site Contingency [Member] PSE And G [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Remedial Investigation And Feasibility Study [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Passaic River mile 10.9 contaminant removal [Member]	Dec. 31, 2006 PSE&G's Former MGP Sites [Member] PSE And G [Member]	Dec. 31, 2006 PSE&G's Former MGP Sites [Member] Power [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Transferred To Power From Pse G [Member] Passaic River Site Contingency [Member] Plant
Site Contingency [Line Items]
Number of miles related to the Passaic River constituting a facility as determined by the US Environmental Protection Agency	8
Number of miles on Passaic River tidal reach required to be studied as determined by the US Environmental Protection Agency	17
Number of operating electric generating station (Essex Site)																					1
Number of former generating electric station											1
Number of former Manufactured Gas Plant (MGP) sites											4
Estimated, total cost of the study														$ 117,000,000			$ 30,000,000
Number of potentially responsible parties ("PRPs") in connection with environmental liabilities for operations conducted near Passaic River														73
Number of current potentially responsible parties ("PRPs") in connection with environmental liabilities for operations conducted near Passaic River														70
Percentage of cost attributable to potentially responsible party																		3.00%	1.00%	5.00%
Estimated cleanup costs-low estimate									1,300,000,000
Estimated cleanup costs-high estimate									3,700,000,000
Estimated cleanup costs agreed to by two potentially responsible parties								80,000,000
Aggregate number of defendants including registrant entities Power and PSE&G included in NJDEP complaint filed February 2009												320
Number of additional PRPs directed by the NJDEP to arrange for natural resource damage assessment and interim compensatory restoration along the lower Passaic River										56
Estimated cost of interim natural resource injury restoration									950,000,000
Number of additional legal entities contacted by EPA in conjunction with Newark Bay study area contamination	11
Number of operating electric generating stations located on Hackensack River	2
Number of former MGP contamination sites located on Hackensack river in conjunction with Newark Bay study area contamination	1
Number of MGP sites identified by registrant and the NJDEP requiring some level of remedial action													38
Estimated expenditures, low end of range																476,000,000
Estimated expenditures, high end of range																552,000,000
Accrued environmental costs	431,000,000	537,000,000		380,000,000	486,000,000											476,000,000
Remediation liability recorded as other current liabilities																107,000,000
Remediation liability recorded as environmental costs in noncurrent liabilities																369,000,000
Regulatory assets																476,000,000
Penalty per day from date of violation-minimum															25,000
Penalty per day from date of violation-maximum															37,500
Ownership percentage of Keystone Coal fired plant in Pennsylvania						23.00%
Parent companies share of investment in Clean Air Act requirements							147,000,000
Number of combustion turbines required to be retired to meet NOx emission reduction requirements			86
Number of MW required to be retired to meet NOx emission reduction requirements			1,750
Number of steam electric generation units requiring significant capital investment for additional controls or retirement as determined by NJDEP			4
Number of MW requiring significant capital investment for additional controls or retirement as determined by NJDEP			400
New Salem facility cooling towers estimated cost total	$ 1,000,000,000					$ 1,000,000,000