ACQUISITION AND DIVESTITURE ACTIVITY - DIVESTITURES (Details) - Sempra LNG & Midstream [Member] - Rockies Express [Member] - USD ($) $ in Millions	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended
May 31, 2016	Mar. 31, 2016	Mar. 31, 2016
Schedule of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Ownership percentage		25.00%	25.00%
Proceeds from sale of equity method investment	$ 443	$ 440
Carrying value of equity method investment		484	$ 484
Fair value of equity method investment		$ 440	440
Impairment of equity method investment			44
Impairment of equity method investment after-tax			$ 27

Equity Method Investment Other Than Temporary Impairment Net Of Tax Benefit

No definition available.

Name:	sre_Equitymethodinvestmentotherthantemporaryimpairmentnetoftaxbenefit
Namespace Prefix:	sre_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

This item represents an other than temporary decline in value that has been recognized against an investment accounted for under the equity method of accounting. The excess of the carrying amount over the fair value of the investment represents the amount of the write down which is or was reflected in earnings. The written down value is a new cost basis with the adjusted value of the investment becoming its new carrying value subject to the equity accounting method. Evidence of a loss in value might include, but would not necessarily be limited to, absence of an ability to recover the carrying amount of the investment or inability of the investee to sustain an earnings capacity which would justify the carrying amount of the investment.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 323
-SubTopic 10
-Section 35
-Paragraph 32
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64825282&loc=d3e32787-111569

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_EquityMethodInvestmentOtherThanTemporaryImpairment
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The percentage of ownership of common stock or equity participation in the investee accounted for under the equity method of accounting.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 323
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (a)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66011266&loc=d3e33918-111571

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_EquityMethodInvestmentOwnershipPercentage
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

This item represents the carrying amount on the entity's balance sheet of its investment in common stock of an equity method investee. This is not an indicator of the fair value of the investment, rather it is the initial cost adjusted for the entity's share of earnings and losses of the investee, adjusted for any distributions (dividends) and other than temporary impairment (OTTI) losses recognized.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 323
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66022249&loc=d3e33749-111570

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.12)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_EquityMethodInvestments
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Fair value portion of investments in an entity not consolidated. Includes, but is not limited to, investments in an entity that is affiliated with the reporting entity by means of direct or indirect ownership, an entity in which the reporting entity shares control of the entity with another party or group, an entity which the company has significant influence, but does not have control and subsidiaries that are not required to be consolidated and are accounted for using the equity or cost method.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 820
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66048111&loc=d3e19190-110258

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_InvestmentsInAffiliatesSubsidiariesAssociatesAndJointVenturesFairValueDisclosure
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The cash inflow associated with the sale of equity method investments, which are investments in joint ventures and entities in which the entity has an equity ownership interest normally of 20 to 50 percent and exercises significant influence.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Glossary Investing Activities
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6516133

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 12
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66902209&loc=d3e3179-108585

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ProceedsFromSaleOfEquityMethodInvestments
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ScheduleOfEquityMethodInvestmentsLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=sre_SempraNaturalGasMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_ScheduleOfEquityMethodInvestmentEquityMethodInvesteeNameAxis=sre_RockiesExpressMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: