SEGMENT INFORMATION (Details)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2017 USD ($) segment	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of reportable segments | segment			6
Segment Reporting Information, Profit (Loss) [Abstract]
REVENUES	$ 2,679,000,000	$ 2,535,000,000	$ 8,243,000,000	$ 7,313,000,000
INTEREST EXPENSE	165,000,000	136,000,000	493,000,000	421,000,000
INTEREST INCOME	12,000,000	7,000,000	26,000,000	19,000,000
DEPRECIATION AND AMORTIZATION	378,000,000	328,000,000	1,106,000,000	970,000,000
INCOME TAX EXPENSE (BENEFIT)	(84,000,000)	282,000,000	378,000,000	284,000,000
Equity earnings (losses), before tax	10,000,000	12,000,000	31,000,000	4,000,000
Equity earnings (losses) net of tax	3,000,000	19,000,000	(5,000,000)	69,000,000
Earnings (losses)	57,000,000	622,000,000	757,000,000	991,000,000
Segment Reporting Information, Additional Information [Abstract]
EXPENDITURES FOR PROPERTY, PLANT & EQUIPMENT			2,880,000,000	3,087,000,000
ASSETS	50,129,000,000		50,129,000,000		$ 47,786,000,000	[1]
EQUITY METHOD AND OTHER INVESTMENTS	2,128,000,000		2,128,000,000		2,097,000,000	[1]
Operating Segments [Member] | SDG&E [Member]
Segment Reporting Information, Profit (Loss) [Abstract]
REVENUES	1,236,000,000	1,209,000,000	3,351,000,000	3,192,000,000
INTEREST EXPENSE	53,000,000	49,000,000	151,000,000	145,000,000
DEPRECIATION AND AMORTIZATION	170,000,000	161,000,000	499,000,000	478,000,000
INCOME TAX EXPENSE (BENEFIT)	(72,000,000)	91,000,000	72,000,000	204,000,000
Earnings (losses)	(28,000,000)	183,000,000	276,000,000	419,000,000
Segment Reporting Information, Additional Information [Abstract]
EXPENDITURES FOR PROPERTY, PLANT & EQUIPMENT			1,122,000,000	959,000,000
ASSETS	18,629,000,000		18,629,000,000		17,719,000,000
Operating Segments [Member] | SoCalGas [Member]
Segment Reporting Information, Profit (Loss) [Abstract]
REVENUES	684,000,000	686,000,000	2,695,000,000	2,336,000,000
INTEREST EXPENSE	26,000,000	25,000,000	77,000,000	71,000,000
INTEREST INCOME	1,000,000	0	1,000,000	0
DEPRECIATION AND AMORTIZATION	132,000,000	121,000,000	384,000,000	355,000,000
INCOME TAX EXPENSE (BENEFIT)	(14,000,000)	21,000,000	103,000,000	75,000,000
Earnings (losses)	7,000,000	0	268,000,000	198,000,000
Segment Reporting Information, Additional Information [Abstract]
EXPENDITURES FOR PROPERTY, PLANT & EQUIPMENT			1,033,000,000	949,000,000
ASSETS	13,917,000,000		13,917,000,000		13,424,000,000
Operating Segments [Member] | Sempra South American Utilities [Member]
Segment Reporting Information, Profit (Loss) [Abstract]
REVENUES	376,000,000	385,000,000	1,169,000,000	1,170,000,000
INTEREST EXPENSE	10,000,000	9,000,000	30,000,000	29,000,000
INTEREST INCOME	6,000,000	5,000,000	17,000,000	15,000,000
DEPRECIATION AND AMORTIZATION	14,000,000	14,000,000	40,000,000	41,000,000
INCOME TAX EXPENSE (BENEFIT)	18,000,000	17,000,000	57,000,000	46,000,000
Equity earnings (losses) net of tax	1,000,000	1,000,000	2,000,000	3,000,000
Earnings (losses)	42,000,000	46,000,000	134,000,000	127,000,000
Segment Reporting Information, Additional Information [Abstract]
EXPENDITURES FOR PROPERTY, PLANT & EQUIPMENT			138,000,000	133,000,000
ASSETS	3,862,000,000		3,862,000,000		3,591,000,000
EQUITY METHOD AND OTHER INVESTMENTS	22,000,000		22,000,000		0
Operating Segments [Member] | Sempra Mexico [Member]
Segment Reporting Information, Profit (Loss) [Abstract]
REVENUES	336,000,000	196,000,000	873,000,000	481,000,000
INTEREST EXPENSE	21,000,000	5,000,000	73,000,000	13,000,000
INTEREST INCOME	7,000,000	2,000,000	12,000,000	5,000,000
DEPRECIATION AND AMORTIZATION	41,000,000	15,000,000	114,000,000	47,000,000
INCOME TAX EXPENSE (BENEFIT)	34,000,000	142,000,000	278,000,000	170,000,000
Equity earnings (losses) net of tax	2,000,000	18,000,000	(7,000,000)	66,000,000
Earnings (losses)	66,000,000	332,000,000	105,000,000	407,000,000
Segment Reporting Information, Additional Information [Abstract]
EXPENDITURES FOR PROPERTY, PLANT & EQUIPMENT			193,000,000	232,000,000
ASSETS	8,100,000,000		8,100,000,000		7,542,000,000
EQUITY METHOD AND OTHER INVESTMENTS	243,000,000		243,000,000		180,000,000
Operating Segments [Member] | Sempra Renewables [Member]
Segment Reporting Information, Profit (Loss) [Abstract]
REVENUES	26,000,000	12,000,000	74,000,000	25,000,000
INTEREST EXPENSE	3,000,000	0	11,000,000	0
INTEREST INCOME	1,000,000	1,000,000	4,000,000	2,000,000
DEPRECIATION AND AMORTIZATION	9,000,000	1,000,000	28,000,000	4,000,000
INCOME TAX EXPENSE (BENEFIT)	(9,000,000)	(7,000,000)	(25,000,000)	(29,000,000)
Equity earnings (losses), before tax	7,000,000	12,000,000	25,000,000	30,000,000
Earnings (losses)	15,000,000	17,000,000	49,000,000	43,000,000
Segment Reporting Information, Additional Information [Abstract]
EXPENDITURES FOR PROPERTY, PLANT & EQUIPMENT			361,000,000	700,000,000
ASSETS	2,650,000,000		2,650,000,000		3,644,000,000
EQUITY METHOD AND OTHER INVESTMENTS	807,000,000		807,000,000		844,000,000
Operating Segments [Member] | Sempra LNG & Midstream [Member]
Segment Reporting Information, Profit (Loss) [Abstract]
REVENUES	152,000,000	164,000,000	406,000,000	384,000,000
INTEREST EXPENSE	9,000,000	11,000,000	29,000,000	33,000,000
INTEREST INCOME	14,000,000	19,000,000	43,000,000	52,000,000
DEPRECIATION AND AMORTIZATION	10,000,000	12,000,000	31,000,000	37,000,000
INCOME TAX EXPENSE (BENEFIT)	(2,000,000)	51,000,000	17,000,000	(77,000,000)
Equity earnings (losses), before tax	3,000,000	0	6,000,000	(26,000,000)
Earnings (losses)	(4,000,000)	77,000,000	24,000,000	(104,000,000)
Segment Reporting Information, Additional Information [Abstract]
EXPENDITURES FOR PROPERTY, PLANT & EQUIPMENT			16,000,000	100,000,000
ASSETS	4,849,000,000		4,849,000,000		5,564,000,000
EQUITY METHOD AND OTHER INVESTMENTS	980,000,000		980,000,000		997,000,000
Adjustments and eliminations [Member]
Segment Reporting Information, Profit (Loss) [Abstract]
REVENUES	0	(1,000,000)	0	(1,000,000)
All other [Member]
Segment Reporting Information, Profit (Loss) [Abstract]
INTEREST EXPENSE	74,000,000	68,000,000	209,000,000	214,000,000
INTEREST INCOME	1,000,000	1,000,000	1,000,000	1,000,000
DEPRECIATION AND AMORTIZATION	2,000,000	4,000,000	10,000,000	8,000,000
INCOME TAX EXPENSE (BENEFIT)	(39,000,000)	(33,000,000)	(124,000,000)	(105,000,000)
Earnings (losses)	(41,000,000)	(33,000,000)	(99,000,000)	(99,000,000)
Segment Reporting Information, Additional Information [Abstract]
EXPENDITURES FOR PROPERTY, PLANT & EQUIPMENT			17,000,000	14,000,000
ASSETS	691,000,000		691,000,000		475,000,000
EQUITY METHOD AND OTHER INVESTMENTS	76,000,000		76,000,000		76,000,000
Intersegment eliminations [Member]
Segment Reporting Information, Profit (Loss) [Abstract]
REVENUES	(131,000,000)	(116,000,000)	(325,000,000)	(274,000,000)
INTEREST EXPENSE	(31,000,000)	(31,000,000)	(87,000,000)	(84,000,000)
INTEREST INCOME	(18,000,000)	(21,000,000)	(52,000,000)	(56,000,000)
Segment Reporting Information, Additional Information [Abstract]
ASSETS	(2,569,000,000)		(2,569,000,000)		$ (4,173,000,000)
Intersegment eliminations [Member] | SDG&E [Member]
Segment Reporting Information, Profit (Loss) [Abstract]
REVENUES	1,000,000	2,000,000	5,000,000	5,000,000
Intersegment eliminations [Member] | SoCalGas [Member]
Segment Reporting Information, Profit (Loss) [Abstract]
REVENUES	21,000,000	21,000,000	56,000,000	56,000,000
Intersegment eliminations [Member] | Sempra Mexico [Member]
Segment Reporting Information, Profit (Loss) [Abstract]
REVENUES	27,000,000	26,000,000	78,000,000	80,000,000
Intersegment eliminations [Member] | Sempra LNG & Midstream [Member]
Segment Reporting Information, Profit (Loss) [Abstract]
REVENUES	$ 82,000,000	$ 67,000,000	$ 186,000,000	$ 133,000,000

[1] Derived from audited financial statements.