Debt (Non-Recourse Debt Maturity Schedule) (Details) - USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Debt Details [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Unamortized Discount (Premium) and Debt Issuance Costs, Net	$ (368,000,000)	$ (394,000,000)
Non Recourse Debt Total	15,645,000,000	$ 15,340,000,000
Nonrecourse Debt [Member]
Debt Details [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Face Amount	1,351,000,000
Long-term Debt, Maturities, Repayments of Principal in Year Two	1,458,000,000
Long-term Debt, Maturities, Repayments of Principal in Year Three	1,601,000,000
Long-term Debt, Maturities, Repayments of Principal in Year Four	1,530,000,000
Long-term Debt, Maturities, Repayments of Principal in Year Five	1,316,000,000
Long-term Debt, Maturities, Repayments of Principal after Year Five	8,411,000,000
Nonrecourse Debt [Member]
Debt Details [Line Items]
Non-Recourse Debt	1,697,000,000
AES Southland [Domain] \| Nonrecourse Debt [Member]
Debt Details [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Face Amount	$ 104,000,000

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Face (par) amount of debt instrument at time of issuance.

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Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 835
-SubTopic 30
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Amount of unamortized debt discount (premium) and debt issuance costs.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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-SubTopic 20
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Amount of long-term debt payable, sinking fund requirements, and other securities issued that are redeemable by holder at fixed or determinable prices and dates maturing after the fifth fiscal year following the latest fiscal year. Excludes interim and annual periods when interim periods are reported on a rolling approach, from latest balance sheet date.

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Amount of debt for which creditor does not have general recourse to the debtor but rather has recourse only to the property used for collateral in the transaction or other specific property.

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