Earnings Per Share (Details) (USD $) In Millions, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended			6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2012		Jun. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2012		Jun. 30, 2011
Income (Numerator)
Income from continuing operations after income taxes attributable to PPL	$ 277		$ 197	$ 818		$ 595
Less amounts allocated to participating securities	2		1	5		3
Income from continuing operations after income taxes available to PPL common shareowners	275		196	813		592
Income (loss) from discontinued operations (net of income taxes) available to PPL	(6)		(1)	(6)		2
Net income attributable to PPL	271		196	812		597
Less amounts allocated to participating securities	2		1	5		3
Net income available to PPL common shareowners	$ 269		$ 195	$ 807		$ 594
Shares of Common Stock (Denominator)
Weighted-average shares - Basic EPS (in shares)	579,881,000		561,652,000	579,462,000		522,897,000
Add incremental non-participating securities:
Stock options and performance units (in shares)	444,000		367,000	465,000		287,000
Forward sale agreements (in shares)	268,000		0	135,000		0
Weighted-average shares - Diluted EPS (in shares)	580,593,000		562,019,000	580,062,000		523,184,000
Basic EPS - Available to PPL common shareowners:
Income from continuing operations after income taxes (in dollars per share)	$ 0.47		$ 0.35	$ 1.40		$ 1.13
Income (loss) from discontinued operations (net of income taxes) (in dollars per share)	$ (0.01)		$ 0	$ (0.01)		$ 0.01
Net Income (in dollars per share)	$ 0.46		$ 0.35	$ 1.39		$ 1.14
Diluted EPS - Available to PPL common shareowners:
Income from continuing operations after income taxes (in dollars per share)	$ 0.47		$ 0.35	$ 1.40		$ 1.13
Income (loss) from discontinued operations (net of income taxes) (in dollars per share)	$ (0.01)		$ 0	$ (0.01)		$ 0.01
Net Income (in dollars per share)	$ 0.46		$ 0.35	$ 1.39		$ 1.14
Shares Issued (Numeric) [Abstract]
Common stock issued under stock-based compensation plans (in shares)	76,000	[1]		353,000	[1]
Common stock issued under ESOP (in shares)	0			280,000
Common stock issued under DRIP (in shares)	617,000			1,175,000
Stock Options [Member]
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share [Line Items]
Shares excluded from the computations of diluted EPS	6,250,000		5,045,000	5,966,000		5,829,000
Performance Units [Member]
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share [Line Items]
Shares excluded from the computations of diluted EPS	34,000		1,000	115,000		4,000
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				97,800,000
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				86,500,000
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				11,300,000

[1] Includes stock option exercises, vesting of restricted stock and restricted stock units and conversion of stock units granted to directors.