Earnings Per Share (Details) (USD $) In Millions, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended																12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011		Sep. 30, 2011		Jun. 30, 2011		Mar. 31, 2011		Dec. 31, 2010		Sep. 30, 2010		Jun. 30, 2010		Mar. 31, 2010		Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009
Income (Numerator)
Income from continuing operations after income taxes attributable to PPL																	$ 1,493	$ 955	$ 414
Less amounts allocated to participating securities																	6	4	2
Income from continuing operations after income taxes available to PPL common shareowners																	1,487	951	412
Income (loss) from discontinued operations (net of income taxes) available to PPL	0		0		(1)	[1]	3	[1]	21	[1]	(53)	[1]	7	[1]	8	[1]	2	(17)	(7)
Net income attributable to PPL	454	[1]	444	[1]	196	[1]	401	[1]	355	[1]	248	[1]	85	[1]	250	[1]	1,495	938	407
Less amounts allocated to participating securities																	6	4	2
Net income available to PPL common shareowners																	$ 1,489	$ 934	$ 405
Shares of Common Stock (Denominator)
Weighted-average shares - Basic EPS (in shares)																	550,395,000	431,345,000	376,082,000
Add incremental non-participating securities:
Stock options and performance units (in shares)																	400,000	224,000	324,000
2010 Purchase Contracts																	157,000	0	0
Weighted-average shares - Diluted EPS (in shares)																	550,952,000	431,569,000	376,406,000
Basic EPS - Available to PPL common shareowners:
Income from continuing operations after income taxes (in dollars per share)	$ 0.78	[1],[2]	$ 0.76	[1],[2]	$ 0.35	[1],[2]	$ 0.82	[1],[2]	$ 0.69	[1],[2]	$ 0.62	[1],[2]	$ 0.20	[1],[2]	$ 0.64	[1],[2]	$ 2.70	$ 2.21	$ 1.10
Income (loss) from discontinued operations (net of income taxes) (in dollars per share)																	$ 0.01	$ (0.04)	$ (0.02)
Net Income (in dollars per share)	$ 0.78	[1],[2]	$ 0.76	[1],[2]	$ 0.35	[1],[2]	$ 0.82	[1],[2]	$ 0.73	[1],[2]	$ 0.51	[1],[2]	$ 0.22	[1],[2]	$ 0.66	[1],[2]	$ 2.71	$ 2.17	$ 1.08
Diluted EPS - Available to PPL common shareowners:
Income from continuing operations after income taxes (in dollars per share)	$ 0.78	[1],[2]	$ 0.76	[1],[2]	$ 0.35	[1],[2]	$ 0.82	[1],[2]	$ 0.69	[1],[2]	$ 0.62	[1],[2]	$ 0.20	[1],[2]	$ 0.64	[1],[2]	$ 2.70	$ 2.20	$ 1.10
Income (loss) from discontinued operations (net of income taxes) (in dollars per share)																	$ 0	$ (0.03)	$ (0.02)
Net Income (in dollars per share)	$ 0.78	[1],[2]	$ 0.76	[1],[2]	$ 0.35	[1],[2]	$ 0.82	[1],[2]	$ 0.73	[1],[2]	$ 0.51	[1],[2]	$ 0.22	[1],[2]	$ 0.66	[1],[2]	$ 2.70	$ 2.17	$ 1.08
Shares Issued (Numeric) [Abstract]
Common stock issued under stock-based compensation plans (in shares)																	443,865
Common stock issued under ESOP (in shares)																	301,319
Common stock issued under DRIP (in shares)																	2,269,388
Stock Options [Member]
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share [Line Items]
Shares excluded from the computations of diluted EPS																	5,084,000	4,936,000	2,394,000
Performance Units [Member]
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share [Line Items]
Shares excluded from the computations of diluted EPS																	2,000	45,000	1,000
Purchase Contacts 2011 [Member]
Potential Dilutive Impact (Numeric) [Abstract]
Level of average VWAP that causes the Purchase Contract component of Equity Units to be dilutive (in dollars per share)																	$ 30.99
Purchase Contracts 2010 [Member]
Potential Dilutive Impact (Numeric) [Abstract]
Level of average VWAP that causes the Purchase Contract component of Equity Units to be dilutive (in dollars per share)																	$ 28.80
Combined Purchase Contracts [Member]
Potential Dilutive Impact (Numeric) [Abstract]
Maximum number of shares of PPL common stock to be issued to settle the Purchase Contract component of the Equity Units																	101,552,245
Maximum number of shares of PPL common stock to be issued to settle the standard provision of the Purchase Contract component of the Equity Units																	86,552,565
Maximum number of shares of PPL common stock to be issued to settle the make whole provisions of the Purchase Contract component of the Equity Units																	14,999,680

[1] Quarterly results can vary depending on, among other things, weather and the forward pricing of power. In addition, earnings in 2011 and 2010 were affected by special items. Accordingly, comparisons among quarters of a year may not be indicative of overall trends and changes in operations.

[2] The sum of the quarterly amounts may not equal annual earnings per share due to changes in the number of common shares outstanding during the year or rounding.