Earnings Per Share (Details) (USD $) In Millions, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended																12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012		Sep. 30, 2012		Jun. 30, 2012		Mar. 31, 2012		Dec. 31, 2011		Sep. 30, 2011		Jun. 30, 2011		Mar. 31, 2011		Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010
Income (Numerator)
Income from continuing operations after income taxes attributable to PPL shareowners																	$ 1,532	$ 1,493	$ 955
Less amounts allocated to participating securities																	8	6	4
Less issuance costs on subsidiary's preferred securities redeemed																	6
Income from continuing operations after income taxes available to PPL shareowners																	1,518	1,487	951
Income (loss) from discontinued operations (net of income taxes) available to PPL common shareowners					(6)	[1]							(1)	[1]	3	[1]	(6)	2	(17)
Net income attributable to PPL shareowners	359	[1]	355	[1]	271	[1]	541	[1]	454	[1]	444	[1]	196	[1]	401	[1]	1,526	1,495	938
Less amounts allocated to participating securities																	8	6	4
Less issuance costs on subsidiary's preferred securities redeemed																	6
Net income available to PPL common shareowners																	$ 1,512	$ 1,489	$ 934
Shares of Common Stock (Denominator)
Weighted-average shares - Basic EPS (in shares)																	580,276,000	550,395,000	431,345,000
Add incremental non-participating securities:
Stock options and performance units (in shares)																	563,000	400,000	224,000
2010 Purchase Contracts																	195,000	157,000
Forward sale agreements (in shares)																	592,000
Weighted-average shares - Diluted EPS (in shares)																	581,626,000	550,952,000	431,569,000
Basic EPS - Available to PPL common shareowners:
Income from continuing operations after income taxes (in dollars per share)	$ 0.61	[1],[2]	$ 0.61	[1],[2]	$ 0.47	[1],[2]	$ 0.93	[1],[2]	$ 0.78	[1],[2]	$ 0.76	[1],[2]	$ 0.35	[1],[2]	$ 0.82	[1],[2]	$ 2.62	$ 2.70	$ 2.21
Income (loss) from discontinued operations (net of income taxes) (in dollars per share)																	$ (0.01)	$ 0.01	$ (0.04)
Net Income (in dollars per share)	$ 0.61	[1],[2]	$ 0.61	[1],[2]	$ 0.46	[1],[2]	$ 0.93	[1],[2]	$ 0.78	[1],[2]	$ 0.76	[1],[2]	$ 0.35	[1],[2]	$ 0.82	[1],[2]	$ 2.61	$ 2.71	$ 2.17
Diluted EPS - Available to PPL common shareowners:
Income from continuing operations after income taxes (in dollars per share)	$ 0.60	[1],[2]	$ 0.61	[1],[2]	$ 0.47	[1],[2]	$ 0.93	[1],[2]	$ 0.78	[1],[2]	$ 0.76	[1],[2]	$ 0.35	[1],[2]	$ 0.82	[1],[2]	$ 2.61	$ 2.70	$ 2.20
Income (loss) from discontinued operations (net of income taxes) (in dollars per share)																	$ (0.01)		$ (0.03)
Net Income (in dollars per share)	$ 0.60	[1],[2]	$ 0.61	[1],[2]	$ 0.46	[1],[2]	$ 0.93	[1],[2]	$ 0.78	[1],[2]	$ 0.76	[1],[2]	$ 0.35	[1],[2]	$ 0.82	[1],[2]	$ 2.60	$ 2.70	$ 2.17
Shares Issued (Numeric) [Abstract]
Common stock issued under stock-based compensation plans (in shares)																	936,218
Common stock issued under ESOP (in shares)																	279,945
Common stock issued under DRIP (in shares)																	2,326,917
Stock Options [Member]
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share [Line Items]
Shares excluded from the computations of diluted EPS																	5,293,000	5,084,000	4,936,000
Performance Units [Member]
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share [Line Items]
Shares excluded from the computations of diluted EPS																	58,000	2,000	45,000
Purchase Contacts 2011 [Member]
Potential Dilutive Impact (Numeric) [Abstract]
Level of average VWAP that causes the Purchase Contract component of Equity Units to be dilutive (in dollars per share)																	$ 30.99
Purchase Contracts 2010 [Member]
Potential Dilutive Impact (Numeric) [Abstract]
Level of average VWAP that causes the Purchase Contract component of Equity Units to be dilutive (in dollars per share)																	$ 28.80
Combined Purchase Contracts [Member]
Potential Dilutive Impact (Numeric) [Abstract]
Maximum number of shares of PPL common stock to be issued to settle the Purchase Contract component of the Equity Units																	93,800,000
Maximum number of shares of PPL common stock to be issued to settle the standard provision of the Purchase Contract component of the Equity Units																	86,600,000
Maximum number of shares of PPL common stock to be issued to settle the make whole provisions of the Purchase Contract component of the Equity Units																	7,200,000

[1] Quarterly results can vary depending on, among other things, weather and the forward pricing of power. Accordingly, comparisons among quarters of a year may not be indicative of overall trends and changes in operations.

[2] The sum of the quarterly amounts may not equal annual earnings per share due to changes in the number of common shares outstanding during the year or rounding.