Financial Statement Presentation (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2018

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Schedule of New Accounting Pronouncements and Changes in Accounting Principles [Table Text Block]

New Accounting Standards Adopted
ASU Number and Name	Description	Date of Adoption	Effect on the financial statements upon adoption
2017-07, Compensation — Retirement Benefits (Topic 715): Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost and Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Cost	This standard changes the presentation of non-service costs associated with defined benefit plans and updates the guidance so that only the service cost component will be eligible for capitalization. Transition method: retrospective for presentation of non-service cost and prospective for the change in capitalization.	January 1, 2018	For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017, $2 million and $1 million of gains primarily related to the expected return on plan assets were reclassified from Costs of Sales to Other Expense, respectively.
2017-05, Other Income — Gains and Losses from the Derecognition of Nonfinancial Assets (Topic 610-20): Clarifying the Scope of Asset Derecognition Guidance and Accounting for Partial Sales of Nonfinancial Assets	This standard clarifies the scope and application of ASC 610-20 on the sale, transfer, and derecognition of nonfinancial assets and in substance nonfinancial assets to non-customers, including partial sales. It also provides guidance on how gains and losses on transfers of nonfinancial assets and in substance nonfinancial assets to non-customers are recognized. The standard also clarifies that the derecognition of businesses is under the scope of ASC 810. The standard must be adopted concurrently with ASC 606, however an entity will not have to apply the same transition method as ASC 606. Transition method: modified retrospective.	January 1, 2018	As more transactions will not meet the definition of a business due to the adoption of ASU 2017-01, more dispositions or partial sales will be out of the scope of ASC 810 and will be under this standard.

2017-01, Business Combinations (Topic 805): Clarifying the Definition of a Business	The standard requires an entity to first evaluate whether substantially all of the fair value of the gross assets acquired is concentrated in a single identifiable asset or a group of similar identifiable assets, and if that threshold is met, the set is not a business. As a second step, at least one substantive process should exist to be considered a business. Transition method: prospective.	January 1, 2018	Some acquisitions and dispositions will now fall under a different accounting model. This will reduce the number of transactions that are accounted for as business combinations and therefore future acquired goodwill.
2016-18, Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230): Restricted Cash (a consensus of the FASB Emerging Issues Task Force)	This standard requires that a statement of cash flows explain the change during the period in the total of cash, cash equivalents, and amounts generally described as restricted cash or restricted cash equivalents. Therefore, amounts generally described as restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents should be included with cash and cash equivalents when reconciling the beginning-of-period and end-of-period total amounts shown on the statement of cash flows. Transition method: retrospective.	January 1, 2018	For the nine months ended September 30, 2017, cash provided by operating activities increased by $12 million, cash used in investing activities decreased by $327 million, and cash provided by financing activities was unchanged.
2016-01, Financial Instruments — Overall (Subtopic 825-10): Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities	The standard significantly revises an entity’s accounting related to (1) classification and measurement of investments in equity securities and (2) the presentation of certain fair value changes for financial liabilities measured at fair value. It also amends certain disclosures of financial instruments. Transition method: modified retrospective. Prospective for equity investments without readily determinable fair value.	January 1, 2018	No material impact upon adoption of the standard.
2014-09, 2015-14, 2016-08, 2016-10, 2016-12, 2016-20, 2017-10, 2017-13, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606)	See discussion of the ASU below.	January 1, 2018	See impact upon adoption of the standard below.

New Accounting Standards Issued But Not Yet Effective
ASU Number and Name	Description	Date of Adoption	Effect on the financial statements upon adoption
2018-15, Intangibles—Goodwill and Other—Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350-40): Customer’s Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement That Is a Service Contract	This standard aligns the accounting for implementation costs incurred for a cloud computing arrangement that is a service with the requirement for capitalizing implementation costs associated with developing or obtaining internal-use software. Transition method: retrospective or prospective.	January 1, 2020. Early adoption is permitted.	The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting the standard on its consolidated financial statements.
2018-02, Income Statement — Reporting Comprehensive Income (Topic 220), Reclassification of Certain Tax Effects from AOCI	This amendment allows a reclassification of the stranded tax effects resulting from the implementation of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act from AOCI to retained earnings. Because this amendment only relates to the reclassification of the income tax effects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the underlying guidance that requires that the effect of a change in tax laws or rates be included in income from continuing operations is not affected.	January 1, 2019. Early adoption is permitted.	The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting the standard on its consolidated financial statements.
2017-12, Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815): Targeted improvements to Accounting for Hedging Activities	The standard updates the hedge accounting model to expand the ability to hedge nonfinancial and financial risk components, reduce complexity, and ease certain documentation and assessment requirements. When facts and circumstances are the same as at the previous quantitative test, a subsequent quantitative effectiveness test is not required. The standard also eliminates the requirement to separately measure and report hedge ineffectiveness. For cash flow hedges, this means that the entire change in the fair value of a hedging instrument will be recorded in other comprehensive income and amounts deferred will be reclassified to earnings in the same income statement line as the hedged item. Transition method: modified retrospective with the cumulative effect adjustment recorded to the opening balance of retained earnings as of the initial application date. Prospective for presentation and disclosures.	January 1, 2019. Early adoption is permitted.	The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting the standard on its consolidated financial statements.
2017-11, Earnings Per Share (Topic 260); Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity (Topic 480); Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815): Accounting for Certain Financial Instruments and Certain Mandatorily Redeemable Noncontrolling Interests	Part 1 of this standard changes the classification of certain equity-linked financial instruments when assessing whether the instrument is indexed to an entity’s own stock. Transition method: retrospective.	January 1, 2019. Early adoption is permitted.	The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting the standard on its consolidated financial statements.
2017-08, Receivables — Nonrefundable Fees and Other Costs (Subtopic 310-20): Premium Amortization on Purchased Callable Debt Securities	This standard shortens the period of amortization for the premium on certain callable debt securities to the earliest call date. Transition method: modified retrospective.	January 1, 2019. Early adoption is permitted.	The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting the standard on its consolidated financial statements.
2017-04, Intangibles — Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment	This standard simplifies the accounting for goodwill impairment by removing the requirement to calculate the implied fair value. Instead, it requires that an entity records an impairment charge based on the excess of a reporting unit's carrying amount over its fair value. Transition method: prospective.	January 1, 2020. Early adoption is permitted.	The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting the standard on its consolidated financial statements.
2016-13, Financial Instruments — Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments	The standard updates the impairment model for financial assets measured at amortized cost. For trade and other receivables, held-to-maturity debt securities, loans and other instruments, entities will be required to use a new forward-looking "expected loss" model that generally will result in the earlier recognition of allowance for losses. For available-for-sale debt securities with unrealized losses, entities will measure credit losses as it is done today, except that the losses will be recognized as an allowance rather than a reduction in the amortized cost of the securities. Transition method: various.	January 1, 2020. Early adoption is permitted only as of January 1, 2019.	The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting the standard on its consolidated financial statements.
2016-02, 2018-01, 2018-10, 2018-11, Leases (Topic 842)	See discussion of the ASU below.	January 1, 2019. Early adoption is permitted.	The Company will adopt the standard on January 1, 2019; see below for the evaluation of the impact of its adoption on the consolidated financial statements.

Consolidation

Consolidation — In this Quarterly Report the terms “AES,” “the Company,” “us” or “we” refer to the consolidated entity, including its subsidiaries and affiliates. The terms “The AES Corporation” or “the Parent Company” refer only to the publicly held holding company, The AES Corporation, excluding its subsidiaries and affiliates. Furthermore, VIEs in which the Company has a variable interest have been consolidated where the Company is the primary beneficiary. Investments in which the Company has the ability to exercise significant influence, but not control, are accounted for using the equity method of accounting. All intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated in consolidation.

Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies [Text Block]

Interim Financial Presentation — The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and footnotes have been prepared in accordance with GAAP, as contained in the FASB ASC, for interim financial information and Article 10 of Regulation S-X issued by the SEC. Accordingly, they do not include all the information and footnotes required by GAAP for annual fiscal reporting periods. In the opinion of management, the interim financial information includes all adjustments of a normal recurring nature necessary for a fair presentation of the results of operations, financial position, comprehensive income, and cash flows. The results of operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, are not necessarily indicative of expected results for the year ending December 31, 2018. The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements are unaudited and should be read in conjunction with the 2017 audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto, which are included in the 2017 Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 26, 2018 (the “2017 Form 10-K”).

Commitments and Contingencies

Litigation — The Company is involved in certain claims, suits and legal proceedings in the normal course of business. The Company accrues for litigation and claims when it is probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount of loss can be reasonably estimated.

Segment Reporting

The segment reporting structure uses the Company’s management reporting structure as its foundation to reflect how the Company manages the businesses internally and is mainly organized by geographic regions, which provides a socio-political-economic understanding of our business. During the first quarter of 2018, the Andes and Brazil SBUs were merged in order to leverage scale and are now reported together as part of the South America SBU. Further, Puerto Rico and El Salvador businesses, formerly part of the MCAC SBU, were combined with the US SBU, which is now reported as the US and Utilities SBU. The management reporting structure is organized by four SBUs led by our President and Chief Executive Officer: US and Utilities, South America, MCAC, and Eurasia SBUs. Using the accounting guidance on segment reporting, the Company determined that its four operating segments are aligned with its four reportable segments corresponding to its SBUs. All prior period results have been retrospectively revised to reflect the new segment reporting structure.

Corporate and Other — The results of the Fluence and Simple Energy equity affiliates are included in “Corporate and Other.” Also included are the results of the AES self-insurance company and corporate overhead costs which are not directly associated with the operations of our four reportable segments, and certain intercompany charges such as self-insurance premiums which are fully eliminated in consolidation.

The Company uses Adjusted PTC as its primary segment performance measure. Adjusted PTC, a non-GAAP measure, is defined by the Company as pre-tax income from continuing operations attributable to The AES Corporation excluding gains or losses of the consolidated entity due to (a) unrealized gains or losses related to derivative transactions and equity securities; (b) unrealized foreign currency gains or losses; (c) gains, losses, benefits and costs associated with dispositions and acquisitions of business interests, including early plant closures; (d) losses due to impairments; (e) gains, losses and costs due to the early retirement of debt; and (f) costs directly associated with a major restructuring program, including, but not limited to, workforce reduction efforts, relocations, and office consolidation. Adjusted PTC also includes net equity in earnings of affiliates on an after-tax basis adjusted for the same gains or losses excluded from consolidated entities. The Company has concluded that Adjusted PTC better reflects the underlying business performance of the Company and is the most relevant measure considered in the Company’s internal evaluation of the financial performance of its segments. Additionally, given its large number of businesses and complexity, the Company concluded that Adjusted PTC is a more transparent measure that better assists investors in determining which businesses have the greatest impact on the Company’s results.

Revenue and Adjusted PTC are presented before inter-segment eliminations, which includes the effect of intercompany transactions with other segments except for interest, charges for certain management fees, and the write-off of intercompany balances, as applicable. All intra-segment activity has been eliminated within the segment. Inter-segment activity has been eliminated within the total consolidated results.