Discontinued Operations and Held-For-Sale Businesses (Narrative) (Details)						1 Months Ended			3 Months Ended			6 Months Ended	10 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
		Jul. 01, 2015 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Feb. 24, 2014 USD ($)	Jan. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2013 USD ($) project	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Oct. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Revenue																	$ 1,255,000,000
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Costs of Goods Sold																	1,078,000,000
Asset Impairment Charges														$ 1,098,000,000		$ 602,000,000	383,000,000
Net loss from disposal and impairments of discontinued operations														1,119,000,000		0	55,000,000
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Foreign Currency Translation Gains (Losses)														1,000,000,000
Reduction in Stockholders equity due to sale of business														92,000,000
Income (Loss) from Continuing Operations Attributable to Parent														8,000,000		331,000,000	705,000,000
Impairment Expense Pre Tax Total																0	(51,000,000)
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Other Income																	5,000,000
Discontinued Operation, Income (Loss) from Discontinued Operation During Phase-out Period, before Income Tax																	182,000,000
Discontinued Operation, Tax (Expense) Benefit from Provision for (Gain) Loss on Disposal						$ 266,000,000
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Assets, Noncurrent									$ 0					0		882,000,000
Discontinued Operation, Income (Loss) from Discontinued Operation, before Income Tax																	131,000,000
Income (loss) on discontinued operations, before tax, attributable to Noncontrolling interest														0		0	8,000,000
Income (loss) from discontinued operations, before income tax, attributable to parent														(1,413,000,000)		(32,000,000)	139,000,000
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Liabilities																8,000,000
Discontinued Operation, Tax Effect of Discontinued Operation																	75,000,000
Income (Loss) from Discontinued Operations, Net of Tax, Attributable to Parent														(1,138,000,000)		(25,000,000)	64,000,000
Cameroon businesses
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Asset Impairment Charges													$ 101,000,000
Equity method investments: (4)
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Proceeds from divestiture of business				$ 8,000,000
U.S. wind projects
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Divestiture Of Ownership In Subsidiary Percent								100.00%
Proceeds from divestiture of business					$ 27,000,000
Asset Impairment Charges								$ 47,000,000
Fair value less costs to sell								$ 30,000,000
Number of wind projects | project								3
Asset impairment charges attributable to noncontrolling interest								$ 7,000,000
Assets carrying amount								$ 77,000,000
Cameroon businesses
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Consideration							$ 200,000,000				$ 200,000,000		200,000,000
Proceeds from divestiture of business							156,000,000			$ 40,000,000
Net loss from disposal and impairments of discontinued operations											7,000,000
Cameroon businesses | Noncurrent Asset
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Non-contingent Consideration, Fair Value, Amount to be Received							$ 44,000,000				$ 44,000,000		$ 44,000,000
Disposal Group, Disposed of by Sale, Not Discontinued Operations [Member] | Armenia Mountain
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Proceeds from divestiture of business		$ 64,000,000
Sale Agreement, Buyer Option To Purchase Ownership Interest, Sales Price			$ 75,000,000
Sul Subsidiary [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Cash Provided by (Used in) Operating Activities, Discontinued Operations														58,000,000		(15,000,000)	15,000,000
Cash Provided by (Used in) Investing Activities, Discontinued Operations														(54,000,000)		(25,000,000)	(123,000,000)
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Revenue														701,000,000		808,000,000
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Costs of Goods Sold														672,000,000		800,000,000
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Cash and Cash Equivalents																5,000,000
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Accrued Liabilities																150,000,000
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Deferred Tax Assets																133,000,000
Net loss from disposal and impairments of discontinued operations						382,000,000									$ 737,000,000
Impairment Expense Pre Tax Total									$ 602,000,000					(1,385,000,000)
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Other Expense														57,000,000		40,000,000
Discontinued Operation, Income (Loss) from Discontinued Operation During Phase-out Period, before Income Tax														(28,000,000)		(32,000,000)
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Assets, Noncurrent						$ 1,600,000,000				$ 1,600,000,000		$ 1,600,000,000
Discontinued Operation, Income (Loss) from Discontinued Operation, before Income Tax														(1,413,000,000)		(32,000,000)	$ 133,000,000
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Accounts, Notes and Loans Receivable, Net																171,000,000
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Property, Plant and Equipment																668,000,000
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Other Assets																233,000,000
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Accounts Payable																150,000,000
Debt excluded from non-recourse debt and included in current and noncurrent liabilities of held for sale and discontinued businesses																346,000,000
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Other Liabilities																125,000,000
Discontinued Operation, Tax Effect of Discontinued Operation														(275,000,000)		(7,000,000)
Income (Loss) from Discontinued Operations, Net of Tax, Attributable to Parent														(1,138,000,000)		$ (25,000,000)
Sul Subsidiary [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Discontinued Operation, Tax (Expense) Benefit from Provision for (Gain) Loss on Disposal														$ 135,000,000
Proceeds from Divestiture of Businesses, Net of Cash Divested															$ 484,000,000
Discontinued Operations, Disposed of by Sale [Member] | Sul Subsidiary [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Impairment Expense Pre Tax Total	[1]											$ (783,000,000)

[1] Per the Company's policy, pre-tax loss was limited to the impairment of long-lived assets. Upon disposal of AES Sul, we incurred an additional pre-tax loss on sale of $602 million. See Note 22—Discontinued Operations for further information.