Other Income and Expense - Other Expense (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended			6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2021	Mar. 31, 2021	Jun. 30, 2020	Jun. 30, 2021		Jun. 30, 2020
Schedule of other expense [Line Items]
Sales-type and Direct Financing Leases, Profit (Loss)				$ 13	[1]	$ 0
Other Nonoperating Expense	$ 0		$ 158	0		202
Other Expenses	4		3	20		7
Business Combination, Step Acquisition, Equity Interest in Acquiree, Remeasurement Gain	176	$ 36		212	[2]	0
Other Expense [Member]
Schedule of other expense [Line Items]
Gain (Loss) on Disposition of Assets	4		1	7		2
Gain (Loss) Related to Litigation Settlement	0		0
Defined Benefit Plan, Other Cost (Credit)	0		1	0		1
Other Nonoperating Expense	0		1	0		4
Other Expenses	$ 4		$ 3	$ 20		$ 7

[1] Related to a loss recognized at commencement of a sales-type lease at AES Distributed Energy. See Note 9—Leases for further information.

[2] Related to the remeasurement of our existing equity interest in sPower’s development platform as part of the step acquisition to form AES Clean Energy Development. See Note 18—Acquisitions for further information.