Property, Plant and Equipment (Regulated and Non-Regulated Generation and Distribution PP&E) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	Dec. 31, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Electric generation, distribution assets and other	$ 26,707	$ 25,383
Accumulated depreciation	(8,472)	(8,505)
Net electric generation and distribution assets and other	18,235	16,878
Regulated Operation [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Electric generation, distribution assets and other	8,858	8,570
Accumulated depreciation	(3,329)	(3,029)
Net electric generation and distribution assets and other	5,529	5,541
Unregulated Operation [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Electric generation, distribution assets and other	17,849	16,813
Accumulated depreciation	(5,143)	(5,476)
Net electric generation and distribution assets and other	$ 12,706	$ 11,337

This element represents capitalized assets classified as property, plant and equipment not otherwise defined in the taxonomy, net of accumulated depreciation, included in noncurrent assets of discontinued and held for sale businesses.

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	aes_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization for physical assets used in the normal conduct of business to produce goods and services.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 360
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (c)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6391035&loc=d3e2868-110229

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.14)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=120391452&loc=d3e13212-122682

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- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

Amount before accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization of other physical assets used in the normal conduct of business to produce goods and services and not intended for resale.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 360
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6391035&loc=d3e2868-110229

+ Details

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