Legal Matters (Details)	12 Months Ended	0 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2012 item	Jul. 17, 2012 Satterfield v. Lime Energy Co. item	Apr. 09, 2013 Kuberski v. Lime Energy Co. item
Legal Matters
Number of class actions filed	2	4
Number of cases consolidated		4	2

The total number of new claims filed pertaining to a loss contingency during the period.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

-Number 5

-Paragraph 9, 10, 11, 12

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

Name:	us-gaap_LossContingencyNewClaimsFiledNumber
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration