Earnings Per Share (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Millions, $ in Millions	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2019	Mar. 31, 2018
BASIC EARNINGS PER SHARE
Income (loss) from continuing operations attributable to The AES Corporation common stockholders (Income)	$ 154	$ 685
Income (loss) from continuing operations attributable to The AES Corporation common stockholders (Shares)	663	661
Income from continuing operations attributable to The AES Corporation common stockholders, net of tax	$ 0.23	$ 1.04
EFFECT OF DILUTIVE SECURITIES
Dilutive Securities, Effect on Basic Earnings Per Share, Options and Restrictive Stock Units	$ 0	$ 0
Stock options (Shares)	1	0
Dilutive Securities Effect On Basic EPS, dilutive Stock Options, per diluted share	$ 0	$ 0
Restricted stock units (Shares)	3	2
Dilutive Securities Effect On Basic EPS, dilutive Restricted Stock Units, per diluted share	$ 0	$ (0.01)
DILUTED EARNINGS PER SHARE:
Income (Loss) from Continuing Operations, Per Diluted Share	$ 0.23	$ 1.03
Income Loss From Continuing Operations Diluted	$ 154	$ 685
Weighted Average Number of Shares Outstanding, Diluted	667	663
Stock Compensation Plan [Member]
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share [Line Items]
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share, Amount	1	6

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