DERIVATIVE FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS 4 (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended				9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2014		Sep. 30, 2013		Sep. 30, 2014		Sep. 30, 2013
Derivative Instruments, Gain (Loss) [Line Items]
Fixed-price contracts and other derivatives					$ 19,000,000		$ 25,000,000
San Diego Gas and Electric Company and Subsidiary [Member]
Derivative Instruments, Gain (Loss) [Line Items]
Fixed-price contracts and other derivatives					5,000,000		7,000,000
Cash Flow Hedges
Derivative Instruments, Gain (Loss) [Line Items]
Amount of pretax gain (loss) on derivative recognized in OCI (effective portion)	(3,000,000)	[1]	(10,000,000)	[1]	(51,000,000)	[1]	13,000,000	[1]
Gain (loss) reclassified from AOCI into earnings (effective portion)	(3,000,000)	[1]	(6,000,000)	[1]	(29,000,000)	[1]	(11,000,000)	[1]
Cash Flow Hedges | Interest Expense | Interest Rate And Foreign Exchange Instruments [Member]
Derivative Instruments, Gain (Loss) [Line Items]
Amount of pretax gain (loss) on derivative recognized in OCI (effective portion)	(5,000,000)	[2]	(8,000,000)	[2]	(15,000,000)	[2]	(3,000,000)	[2]
Gain (loss) reclassified from AOCI into earnings (effective portion)	(8,000,000)	[2]	(3,000,000)	[2]	(17,000,000)	[2]	(9,000,000)	[2]
Cash Flow Hedges | Interest Expense | Interest Rate Instruments | San Diego Gas and Electric Company and Subsidiary [Member]
Derivative Instruments, Gain (Loss) [Line Items]
Amount of pretax gain (loss) on derivative recognized in OCI (effective portion)	1,000,000	[1],[2]	(3,000,000)	[1],[2]	(5,000,000)	[1],[2]	8,000,000	[1],[2]
Gain (loss) reclassified from AOCI into earnings (effective portion)	(3,000,000)	[1],[2]	(2,000,000)	[1],[2]	(8,000,000)	[1],[2]	(6,000,000)	[1],[2]
Cash Flow Hedges | Interest Expense | Interest Rate Instruments | Southern California Gas Company [Member]
Derivative Instruments, Gain (Loss) [Line Items]
Amount of pretax gain (loss) on derivative recognized in OCI (effective portion)					0		0
Gain (loss) reclassified from AOCI into earnings (effective portion)					0		(1,000,000)
Cash Flow Hedges | Equity Earnings Before Income Tax [Member] | Interest Rate Instruments
Derivative Instruments, Gain (Loss) [Line Items]
Amount of pretax gain (loss) on derivative recognized in OCI (effective portion)	(4,000,000)		(3,000,000)		(34,000,000)		11,000,000
Gain (loss) reclassified from AOCI into earnings (effective portion)	(2,000,000)		(3,000,000)		(7,000,000)		(7,000,000)
Cash Flow Hedges | Revenues: Energy-Related Businesses [Member] | Commodity Contracts Not Subject To Rate Recovery
Derivative Instruments, Gain (Loss) [Line Items]
Amount of pretax gain (loss) on derivative recognized in OCI (effective portion)	1,000,000		1,000,000		(5,000,000)		5,000,000
Gain (loss) reclassified from AOCI into earnings (effective portion)	2,000,000		0		(8,000,000)		5,000,000
Cash Flow Hedges | Gain On Sale Of Assets [Member] | Interest Rate Instruments
Derivative Instruments, Gain (Loss) [Line Items]
Amount of pretax gain (loss) on derivative recognized in OCI (effective portion)	5,000,000		0		3,000,000		0
Gain (loss) reclassified from AOCI into earnings (effective portion)	5,000,000		0		3,000,000		0
Fair Value Hedges
Derivative Instruments, Gain (Loss) [Line Items]
Gain (loss) reclassified from AOCI into earnings (effective portion)	0	[3]	3,000,000	[3]	6,000,000	[3]	2,000,000	[3]
Fair Value Hedges | Interest Expense | Interest Rate Instruments
Derivative Instruments, Gain (Loss) [Line Items]
Gain (loss) reclassified from AOCI into earnings (effective portion)	1,000,000		2,000,000		6,000,000		6,000,000
Gain (Loss) on Fair Value Hedge Ineffectiveness, Net	0				9,000,000
Fair Value Hedges | Other Income, Net | Interest Rate Instruments
Derivative Instruments, Gain (Loss) [Line Items]
Gain (loss) reclassified from AOCI into earnings (effective portion)	(1,000,000)		1,000,000		0		(4,000,000)
Undesignated Derivatives
Derivative Instruments, Gain (Loss) [Line Items]
Gain (loss) reclassified from AOCI into earnings (effective portion)	(4,000,000)		6,000,000		16,000,000		7,000,000
Undesignated Derivatives | Other Income, Net | Interest Rate And Foreign Exchange Instruments [Member]
Derivative Instruments, Gain (Loss) [Line Items]
Gain (loss) reclassified from AOCI into earnings (effective portion)	(6,000,000)		4,000,000		(6,000,000)		17,000,000
Undesignated Derivatives | Equity Earnings Net Of Income Tax [Member] | Interest Rate And Foreign Exchange Instruments [Member]
Derivative Instruments, Gain (Loss) [Line Items]
Gain (loss) reclassified from AOCI into earnings (effective portion)	(2,000,000)		0		(4,000,000)		(3,000,000)
Undesignated Derivatives | Revenues: Energy-Related Businesses [Member] | Commodity Contracts Not Subject To Rate Recovery
Derivative Instruments, Gain (Loss) [Line Items]
Gain (loss) reclassified from AOCI into earnings (effective portion)	3,000,000		1,000,000		2,000,000		2,000,000
Undesignated Derivatives | Cost of Natural Gas, Electric Fuel and Purchased Power [Member] | Commodity Contracts Not Subject To Rate Recovery
Derivative Instruments, Gain (Loss) [Line Items]
Gain (loss) reclassified from AOCI into earnings (effective portion)	1,000,000		0		3,000,000		0
Undesignated Derivatives | Cost of Electric Fuel and Purchased Power [Member] | Commodity Contracts Subject To Rate Recovery [Member]
Derivative Instruments, Gain (Loss) [Line Items]
Gain (loss) reclassified from AOCI into earnings (effective portion)	(1,000,000)		0		19,000,000		(9,000,000)
Undesignated Derivatives | Cost of Electric Fuel and Purchased Power [Member] | Commodity Contracts Subject To Rate Recovery [Member] | San Diego Gas and Electric Company and Subsidiary [Member]
Derivative Instruments, Gain (Loss) [Line Items]
Gain (loss) reclassified from AOCI into earnings (effective portion)	(1,000,000)		0		19,000,000		(9,000,000)
Undesignated Derivatives | Cost of Natural Gas [Member] | Commodity Contracts Subject To Rate Recovery [Member]
Derivative Instruments, Gain (Loss) [Line Items]
Gain (loss) reclassified from AOCI into earnings (effective portion)	1,000,000		1,000,000		2,000,000		0
Undesignated Derivatives | Cost of Natural Gas [Member] | Commodity Contracts Subject To Rate Recovery [Member] | Southern California Gas Company [Member]
Derivative Instruments, Gain (Loss) [Line Items]
Gain (loss) reclassified from AOCI into earnings (effective portion)	$ 1,000,000		$ 1,000,000		$ 2,000,000		$ 0

[1] There was a negligible amount of ineffectiveness related to these hedges in 2014 and 2013.

[2] Amounts include Otay Mesa VIE. All of SDG&E’s interest rate derivative activity relates to Otay Mesa VIE.

[3] There were negligible gains from hedge ineffectiveness on these swaps for the three-month period, and $9 million of gains from hedge ineffectiveness for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2014, respectively. All other changes in the fair value of the interest rate swap agreements are exactly offset by changes in the fair value of the underlying long-term debt and recorded in Other Income, Net. There was no hedge ineffectiveness in 2013.