Commitments And Contingent Liabilities (Basic Generation Service (BGS) And Basic Gas Supply Service (BGSS)) (Detail) cf in Billions	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2017 cf $ / mwh $ / mwd MW
Long-term Purchase Commitment [Line Items]
Number of cubic feet in gas hedging permitted to be recovered by BPU | cf	115
Percentage of residential gas supply permitted to be recovered in gas hedging by BPU	80.00%
Percentage of annual residential gas supply requirements to be hedged	50.00%
Number of cubic feet to be hedged | cf	70
PSE&G [Member] | Auction Year 2018 [Member]
Long-term Purchase Commitment [Line Items]
36-Month Terms Ending	May 31, 2021	[1]
Load (MW) | MW	2,900
$ per kWh | $ / mwd	287.76
Dollars Per Megawatt Hour | $ / mwh	91.77
PSE&G [Member] | Auction Year 2015 [Member]
Long-term Purchase Commitment [Line Items]
36-Month Terms Ending	May 31, 2018
Load (MW) | MW	2,900
Dollars Per Megawatt Hour | $ / mwh	99.54
PSE&G [Member] | Auction Year 2016 [Member]
Long-term Purchase Commitment [Line Items]
36-Month Terms Ending	May 31, 2019
Load (MW) | MW	2,800
Dollars Per Megawatt Hour | $ / mwh	96.38
PSE&G [Member] | Auction Year 2017 [Member]
Long-term Purchase Commitment [Line Items]
36-Month Terms Ending	May 31, 2020
Load (MW) | MW	2,800
$ per kWh | $ / mwd	276.83
Dollars Per Megawatt Hour | $ / mwh	90.78

[1] Prices set in the 2018 BGS auction will become effective on June 1, 2018 when the 2015 BGS auction agreements expire.