XML 201 R163.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT
v3.8.0.1

Acquisitions Acquistions (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions |  | 3 Months Ended | 9 Months Ended | 12 Months Ended |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
Feb. 18, 2015 | Sep. 30, 2017 | Sep. 30, 2017 | Dec. 31, 2017 | Sep. 16, 2016 | Aug. 03, 2017
Alto Sertao II [Member] |  |  |  |  |  |
Business Acquisition [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |
Business Acquisition, Percentage of Voting Interests Acquired |  |  |  |  |  | 100.00%
Business Combination, Contract Purchase Price |  |  |  |  |  | $ 181
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Liabilities |  |  |  |  |  | 348
Business Combination, Contingent Consideration, Liability |  |  |  |  |  | $ 30
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Net of Cash Acquired |  | $ 143 |  |  |  |
Bauru Solar Complex [Member] |  |  |  |  |  |
Business Acquisition [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Net of Cash Acquired |  |  | $ 55 |  |  |
Other Payments to Acquire Businesses |  |  | $ 140 |  |  |
Project Financing Disbursed |  |  |  | $ 45 |  |
Main street power [Member] |  |  |  |  |  |
Business Acquisition [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |
Business Acquisition, Percentage of Voting Interests Acquired | 100.00% |  |  |  |  |
Business Combination, Consideration Transferred | $ 25 |  |  |  |  |
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Gross | $ 20 |  |  |  |  |
Distributed energy [Domain] |  |  |  |  |  |
Business Acquisition [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |
Business Combination, Consideration Transferred |  |  |  |  | $ 43 |

X
- Definition Business Combination, Contract Purchase Price + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | aes_BusinessCombinationContractPurchasePrice
Namespace Prefix: | aes_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | debit
Period Type: | instant

X
- Definition Project Financing Disbursed + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | aes_ProjectFinancingDisbursed
Namespace Prefix: | aes_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | credit
Period Type: | duration

X
- 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_BusinessAcquisitionLineItems
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Percentage of voting equity interests acquired at the acquisition date in the business combination. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -Subparagraph (c) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=79982066&loc=d3e1392-128463 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionPercentageOfVotingInterestsAcquired
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | num:percentItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | instant

X
- Definition Amount of consideration transferred, consisting of acquisition-date fair value of assets transferred by the acquirer, liabilities incurred by the acquirer, and equity interest issued by the acquirer. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 30 -Section 30 -Paragraph 7 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6911251&loc=d3e6578-128477 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 30 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (b) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35744584&loc=d3e6927-128479 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 30 -Section 30 -Paragraph 8 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6911251&loc=d3e6613-128477 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_BusinessCombinationConsiderationTransferred1
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | credit
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Amount of liability recognized arising from contingent consideration in a business combination. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 30 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (c) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35744584&loc=d3e6927-128479 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 30 -Section 35 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (b) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6911338&loc=d3e6819-128478 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 30 -Section 25 -Paragraph 6 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6911189&loc=d3e6408-128476 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_BusinessCombinationContingentConsiderationLiability
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | credit
Period Type: | instant

X
- Definition Amount of liabilities assumed at the acquisition date. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (c) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84161108&loc=d3e4845-128472 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_BusinessCombinationRecognizedIdentifiableAssetsAcquiredAndLiabilitiesAssumedLiabilities
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | credit
Period Type: | instant

X
- Definition The cash outflow associated with other payments to acquire businesses including deposit on pending acquisitions and preacquisition costs. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 230 -SubTopic 10 -Section 45 -Paragraph 13 -Subparagraph (b) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=98514028&loc=d3e3213-108585 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_OtherPaymentsToAcquireBusinesses
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | credit
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition The cash outflow associated with the acquisition of business during the period. The cash portion only of the acquisition price. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 230 -SubTopic 10 -Section 45 -Paragraph 13 -Subparagraph (b) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=98514028&loc=d3e3213-108585 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_PaymentsToAcquireBusinessesGross
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | credit
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition The cash outflow associated with the acquisition of a business, net of the cash acquired from the purchase. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 230 -SubTopic 10 -Section 45 -Paragraph 13 -Subparagraph (b) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=98514028&loc=d3e3213-108585 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_PaymentsToAcquireBusinessesNetOfCashAcquired
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | credit
Period Type: | duration

X
- Details
Name: | dei_LegalEntityAxis=aes_AltoSertaoIIMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | dei_LegalEntityAxis=aes_BauruSolarComplexMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | dei_LegalEntityAxis=aes_MainstreetpowerMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | dei_LegalEntityAxis=aes_DistributedenergyDomain
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |