Earnings Per Share (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Millions, $ in Millions	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2020	Mar. 31, 2019
BASIC EARNINGS PER SHARE
Income from continuing operations attributable to The AES Corporation common stockholders (Income)	$ 144	$ 154
Income from continuing operations attributable to The AES Corporation common stockholders (Shares)	664	663
Income from continuing operations attributable to The AES Corporation common stockholders (Per Share)	$ 0.22	$ 0.23
EFFECT OF DILUTIVE SECURITIES
Dilutive Securities, Effect on Basic Earnings Per Share, Options and Restrictive Stock Units	$ 0	$ 0
Stock options (Shares)	1	1
Dilutive Securities Effect On Basic EPS, dilutive Stock Options, per diluted share	$ 0	$ 0
Restricted stock units (Shares)	3	3
Dilutive Securities Effect On Basic EPS, dilutive Restricted Stock Units, per diluted share	$ 0	$ 0
DILUTED EARNINGS PER SHARE:
Income from continuing operations, diluted	$ 144	$ 154
Weighted average number of shares outstanding, diluted	668	667
Income from continuing operations, per diluted share	$ 0.22	$ 0.23
Share-based Payment Arrangement [Member]
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share [Line Items]
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share, Amount	1	1