OTHER FINANCIAL DATA - CAPITALIZED FINANCING COSTS (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2014
Capitalized Financing Costs Disclosure [Line Items]
AFUDC related to debt	$ 6	$ 6
AFUDC related to equity	27	25
Other capitalized financing costs	17us-gaap_InterestCostsCapitalized	8us-gaap_InterestCostsCapitalized
Total capitalized financing costs	50sre_CapitalizedFinancingCosts	39sre_CapitalizedFinancingCosts
San Diego Gas and Electric Company [Member]
Capitalized Financing Costs Disclosure [Line Items]
AFUDC related to debt	3	4
AFUDC related to equity	8	11
Total capitalized financing costs	11	15
Southern California Gas Company [Member]
Capitalized Financing Costs Disclosure [Line Items]
AFUDC related to debt	3	2
AFUDC related to equity	9	5
Total capitalized financing costs	$ 12	$ 7

Allowance for funds used during construction from capitalized equity costs.

No definition available.

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

- Definition

Total capitalized financing costs from both debt and equity instruments.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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

- Details

Name:	sre_CapitalizedFinancingCostsDisclosureLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	sre_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of interest capitalized during the period.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Glossary Allowance for Funds Used during Construction

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6504829

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 835

-SubTopic 20

-Section 50

-Paragraph 1

-Subparagraph (b)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6450988&loc=d3e26243-108391

+ Details

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

- Definition

Amount capitalized of allowance for funds used during construction.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Glossary Allowance for Funds Used during Construction

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6504829

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 980

-SubTopic 835

-Section 45

-Paragraph 1

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6501662&loc=d3e56162-110433

+ Details

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

- Details

Name:	dei_LegalEntityAxis=sre_SanDiegoGasAndElectricCompanyMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	dei_LegalEntityAxis=sre_SouthernCaliforniaGasCompanyMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: