Financing Activities (Long-term Debt and Equity Securities) (Details) (USD $) In Millions, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	1 Months Ended			3 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2013	Apr. 30, 2012 Integer	Mar. 31, 2013 Equity Units 2010 [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 PPL Capital Funding [Member] JuniorSubordinatedDebtMember	Mar. 31, 2013 PPL Energy Supply [Member] Senior Unsecured Notes [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 PPL Ironwood [Member] Senior Secured Notes [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 PPL Energy Supply LLC [Member] Senior Unsecured Notes [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 PPL Energy Supply LLC [Member] PPL Ironwood [Member] Senior Secured Notes [Member]
Equity Securities (Numeric) [Abstract]
Shares of PPL common stock issued under a public equity offering		9,900,000
Number of counterparties involved in the sale agreements		2
Additional shares of common stock to be purchased by underwriters in a future period to cover over-allotments		591,000
Shares physically delivered relating to forward sale agreements	8,400,000
Shares cash settled relating to forward sale agreements	1,500,000
Settlement date of initial forward sale agreements	Apr. 30, 2013
Net cash received on stock transaction	$ 205
Initial forward price used to calculate the forward sale price		$ 27.02
Long-term Debt (Numeric) [Abstract]
Principal amount				450	212		212
Stated interest rate				5.90%	4.60%	8.857%	4.60%	8.857%
Maturity date (in year)				Apr. 30, 2073	Dec. 15, 2021	Nov. 30, 2025	Dec. 15, 2021	Nov. 30, 2025
Net proceeds from issuance of unsecured debt				436
Principal amount of debt exchanged						167		167
Equity Units [Line Items]
Aggregate value of Equity Units expected to be remarketed			$ 1,150