Business Acquisitions (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended							1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended							1 Months Ended	2 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2011 International Regulated [Member] One Time Termination Benefits Member Specific Employee Class [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 International Regulated [Member] Seperation Benefits [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 International Regulated [Member] Severance Compensation [Member]		Dec. 31, 2011 International Regulated [Member] Early Retirement Deficiency Costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 International Regulated [Member] Outplacement Services [Member]	Apr. 30, 2011 WPD Midlands [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 WPD Midlands [Member]		Dec. 31, 2011 WPD Midlands [Member] Interest Expense [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 WPD Midlands [Member] Other Income Expense Net [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 WPD Midlands [Member] Combined Other Income Expense Net And Other Operation Maint [Member]		Dec. 31, 2011 WPD Midlands [Member] Other Operation Maintenance [Member]	Nov. 30, 2010 LKE [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 LKE [Member]		Dec. 31, 2010 LKE [Member]		Dec. 31, 2010 LKE [Member] Interest Expense [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 LKE [Member] Other Income Expense Net [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Combined Acquisition [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Combined Acquisition [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Acquisition date								April 1, 2011								November 1, 2010
Number of end users serviced by purchased company									5,000,000
Fair Value of Consideration Paid for Acquisition [Abstract]
Aggregate enterprise consideration								$ 6,600,000,000								$ 7,600,000,000
Less: fair value of assumed long-term debt outstanding								800,000,000								800,000,000
Total cash consideration paid								5,800,000,000								6,800,000,000
Less: funds used to repay pre-acquisition affiliate debt								1,700,000,000	1,700,000,000							4,300,000,000	4,300,000,000	[1]	4,300,000,000	[1]
Cash consideration paid for equity interests								4,100,000,000								2,500,000,000
Acquistion related Financing Activities (Numeric) [Abstract]
Gross issuance of common stock and Equity Units in June 2010 to partially fund the acquisition																3,600,000,000
Net proceeds from the issuances of common stock and Equity Units in June 2010 to partially fund the acquisition																3,500,000,000
Borrowings under existing credit facilities used to partially fund the transaction																3,200,000,000
Debt issued by LKE to primarily to repay affiliated indebtedness																			2,900,000,000
Portion of proceeds used to return capital by LG&E and KU Energy LLC to PPL																			100,000,000
PPL Energy Supply's repayment of borrowings under existing credit facilities																			3,000,000,000
Proceeds from monetization of certain full-requirement sales contracts used to partially fund the transaction																249,000,000
Pre-tax gains (losses) reclassified to earnings related to interest rate cash flow hedge contracts due to discontinuance of forecasted transaction																			(29,000,000)
After-tax gains (losses) previously recorded in AOCI reclassified to earnings related to interest rate cash flow hedge contracts	(19,000,000)
Business Acquisition, Purchase Price Allocation [Abstract]
Current assets									200,000,000	[2]							900,000,000	[3]	900,000,000	[3]
PP&E									4,900,000,000								7,500,000,000		7,500,000,000
Intangible assets									100,000,000								400,000,000		400,000,000
Other noncurrent assets									100,000,000								700,000,000		700,000,000
Current liabilities, excluding current portion of long-term debt																	(500,000,000)	[4]	(500,000,000)	[4]
Current liabilities									(400,000,000)	[5]
Affiliate indebtedness								(1,700,000,000)	(1,700,000,000)							(4,300,000,000)	(4,300,000,000)	[1]	(4,300,000,000)	[1]
Long term debt (current and noncurrent)									(800,000,000)	[5]							(900,000,000)	[4]	(900,000,000)	[4]
Other noncurrent liabilities									(700,000,000)	[5]							(2,300,000,000)	[4]	(2,300,000,000)	[4]
Net identifiable assets acquired									1,700,000,000								1,500,000,000		1,500,000,000
Goodwill									2,400,000,000								1,000,000,000		1,000,000,000
Net assets acquired									4,100,000,000								2,500,000,000		2,500,000,000
Gross contractual obligation of accounts receivable acquired									122,000,000								186,000,000		186,000,000
Portion of gross contractual obligation of accounts receivable expected to be uncollectible																	11,000,000		11,000,000
Goodwill allocated to Kentucky Regulated segment																	662,000,000		662,000,000
Goodwill Allocated To Supply Segment																	334,000,000		334,000,000
Portion of repayment of affiliate indebtedness that was treated as capital contribution to subsidiary																			1,600,000,000
Business Acquisition, Pro Forma Information [Abstract]
Operating revenue									790,000,000								493,000,000
Net income									137,000,000								47,000,000
Net income excluding nonrecurring acquisition-related adjustments									281,000,000
Operating Revenues - PPL consolidated pro forma																							13,140,000,000	11,850,000,000
Net Income (Loss) Attributable to PPL - PPL consolidated pro forma																							1,800,000,000	1,462,000,000
Income (loss) from discontinued operations excluded from pro-forma																								(18,000,000)
Bridge Facility costs											(44,000,000)										(80,000,000)
Foreign currency loss on 2011 Bridge Facility												(57,000,000)
Net hedge gains												55,000,000
Hedge ineffectiveness											(12,000,000)
U.K. stamp duty tax												(21,000,000)
Separation benefits															(102,000,000)
Other acquisition-related costs													(77,000,000)	[6]								(31,000,000)
Restructuring And Related Cost [Abstract]
Expected completion date				Dec. 31, 2012
Number of employees impacted			740
Expected costs to be incurred			104,000,000	58,000,000		45,000,000	1,000,000
Costs recorded to date		9,000,000	93,000,000	48,000,000		45,000,000
Severance paid				(27,000,000)	[7]
Accrued severance at end of period				$ 21,000,000
Number of employees who received severance payments				340

[1] Includes $1.6 billion designated as a capital contribution to LKE.

[2] Includes gross contractual amount of the accounts receivable acquired of $122 million, which approximates fair value.

[3] Includes gross contractual amount of the accounts receivable acquired of $186 million. PPL expected $11 million to be uncollectible; however, credit risk is mitigated since uncollectible accounts are a component of customer rates.

[4] Represents non-cash activity excluded from the 2010 Statement of Cash Flows.

[5] Represents non-cash activity excluded from the 2011 Statement of Cash Flows.

[6] Primarily includes advisory, accounting and legal fees recorded in "Other Income (Expense) - net" and contract termination costs, rebranding costs and relocation costs recorded in "Other operation and maintenance."

[7] Payments to approximately 350 employees separated.