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Equity (Transactions with Noncontrolling Interests) (Details) - USD ($)	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2020	Sep. 30, 2020	Dec. 31, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018	Nov. 30, 2020	Mar. 20, 2018
Noncontrolling Interest [Line Items]
Gain (Loss) on Disposition of Business			$ (95,000,000)	$ 28,000,000	$ 984,000,000
Stockholders' Equity Attributable to Parent	$ 2,634,000,000		2,634,000,000	2,996,000,000
Additional Paid in Capital	7,561,000,000		7,561,000,000	7,776,000,000
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax	$ (2,397,000,000)		$ (2,397,000,000)	(2,229,000,000)	(2,071,000,000)
AES Tiete [Domain]
Noncontrolling Interest [Line Items]
Noncontrolling Interest, Ownership Percentage by Parent	44.10%		44.10%
Distributed Energy [Member]
Noncontrolling Interest [Line Items]
Sales to noncontrolling interests			$ 144,000,000	133,000,000	98,000,000
Masinloc Subsidiary [Member]
Noncontrolling Interest [Line Items]
Disposal Group Not Discontinued Operation Ownership Interest Sold							51.00%
AES Southland [Domain]
Noncontrolling Interest [Line Items]
Sale of Stock, Percentage of Ownership after Transaction			65.00%
Additional Paid in Capital	$ 266,000,000		$ 266,000,000
Sale of Stock, Consideration Received on Transaction			424,000,000
Stockholders' Equity, Period Increase (Decrease)			$ 275,000,000
Sale of Stock, Description of Transaction			35
Reclassification from AOCI, Current Period, Net of Tax, Attributable to Parent			$ 9,000,000
AES Tiete [Domain]
Noncontrolling Interest [Line Items]
Payments to Acquire Additional Interest in Subsidiaries	16,000,000	$ 240,000,000
Consolidation, Less than Wholly Owned Subsidiary, Parent Ownership Interest, Changes, Purchase of Interest by Parent	$ 0.013	$ 0.185
AES Tiete
Noncontrolling Interest [Line Items]
Adjustments to Additional Paid in Capital, Other			94,000,000
Stockholders' Equity, Period Increase (Decrease)			214,000,000
Reclassification from AOCI, Current Period, Net of Tax, Attributable to Parent			120,000,000
AES Gener
Noncontrolling Interest [Line Items]
Sale of Stock, Percentage of Ownership after Transaction		38.00%
Preferred Units, Cumulative Cash Distributions						$ 12,000,000
Preferred Stock, Participation Rights		12 million
Sale of Stock, Consideration Received on Transaction		$ 113,000,000
Sale of Stock, Description of Transaction		5
Investments		$ 113,000,000
Additional Paid-in Capital [Member]
Noncontrolling Interest [Line Items]
Sales to noncontrolling interests			260,000,000	(5,000,000)	(3,000,000)
Noncontrolling Interest, Decrease from Redemptions or Purchase of Interests			$ (89,000,000)	$ 0	$ 0

X

- Definition

Percentage of equity interest in business disposed.

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Accumulated change in equity from transactions and other events and circumstances from non-owner sources, net of tax effect, at period end. Excludes Net Income (Loss), and accumulated changes in equity from transactions resulting from investments by owners and distributions to owners. Includes foreign currency translation items, certain pension adjustments, unrealized gains and losses on certain investments in debt and equity securities, other than temporary impairment (OTTI) losses related to factors other than credit losses on available-for-sale and held-to-maturity debt securities that an entity does not intend to sell and it is not more likely than not that the entity will be required to sell before recovery of the amortized cost basis, as well as changes in the fair value of derivatives related to the effective portion of a designated cash flow hedge.

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Excess of issue price over par or stated value of the entity's capital stock and amounts received from other transactions involving the entity's stock or stockholders. Includes adjustments to additional paid in capital. Some examples of such adjustments include recording the issuance of debt with a beneficial conversion feature and certain tax consequences of equity instruments awarded to employees. Use this element for the aggregate amount of additional paid-in capital associated with common and preferred stock. For additional paid-in capital associated with only common stock, use the element additional paid in capital, common stock. For additional paid-in capital associated with only preferred stock, use the element additional paid in capital, preferred stock.

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Amount of other increase (decrease) in additional paid in capital (APIC).

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- Definition

Represents the purchase by the parent of an additional equity interest in a subsidiary during the period, thereby effecting a change in total (consolidated) equity attributable to the parent. The purchase of the additional equity interest represented by this element increases the parent's controlling interest in the subsidiary.

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Amount of gain (loss) from sale and disposal of integrated set of activities and assets capable of being conducted and managed for purpose of providing return in form of dividend, lower cost, or other economic benefit to investor, owner, member and participant.

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Sum of the carrying amounts as of the balance sheet date of all investments.

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Decrease in noncontrolling interest (for example, but not limited to, redeeming or purchasing the interests of noncontrolling shareholders, issuance of shares (interests) by the non-wholly owned subsidiary to the parent entity for other than cash, and a buyback of shares (interest) by the non-wholly owned subsidiary from the noncontrolling interests).

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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.

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The parent entity's interest in net assets of the subsidiary, expressed as a percentage.

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Amount of increase in noncontrolling interest from sale of a portion of the parent's controlling interest.

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The cash outflow associated with the purchase of noncontrolling interest during the period.

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Describe the contractual rights of preferred stockholders to receive dividends or returns from the entity's profits, cash flows, or returns on investments.

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Aggregate cumulative cash distributions made to the preferred partners.

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Amount after tax of reclassification adjustments of other comprehensive income (loss) attributable to parent.

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Cash received on stock transaction after deduction of issuance costs.

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Description of stock transaction which may include details of the offering (IPO, private placement), a description of the stock sold, percentage of subsidiary's or equity investee's stock sold, a description of the investors and whether the stock was issued in a business combination.

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Percentage of subsidiary's or equity investee's stock owned by parent company after stock transaction.

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Total of all stockholders' equity (deficit) items, net of receivables from officers, directors, owners, and affiliates of the entity which are attributable to the parent. The amount of the economic entity's stockholders' equity attributable to the parent excludes the amount of stockholders' equity which is allocable to that ownership interest in subsidiary equity which is not attributable to the parent (noncontrolling interest, minority interest). This excludes temporary equity and is sometimes called permanent equity.

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The increase (decrease) in stockholders' equity during the period.

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