Fair Value (Details)	Sep. 30, 2012
Fair Value Disclosures Details [Abstract]
Fair Value Percent Threshold For Significant Assumption	10.00%

Represents the minimum percentage of the overall fair value determination that an assumption must represent to be considered significant to the overall fair value.

No definition available.

Name:	aes_FairValuePercentThresholdForSignificantAssumption
Namespace Prefix:	aes_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant