Derivative Instruments (Details Textual) (USD $)	6 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	6 Months Ended	1 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2012	Aug. 30, 2011 Put Option [Member] gal	Jun. 30, 2012 Put Option [Member]	May 31, 2012 Call Option [Member] gal	Jun. 30, 2012 Call Option [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Call Option [Member] Maximum [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Call Option [Member] Minimum [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Natural gas and electric distribution operations [Member] Contract
Derivative Instruments (Textual) [Abstract]
Derivatives contracts outstanding								0
Purchase quantity for propane price cap		630,000		1,260,000
Strike price of put option			1.445			0.99	0.905
Difference between market price and strike price			$ 118,000
Amount paid to purchase put option			91,000
Fair Value of Call Options					123,000
Payment to Purchase Call Option				139,000
Ineffective portion of Call Options at fair value
Derivative Instruments (Additional Textual) [Abstract]
Expiration of derivative contracts	First quarter of 2013
Expiration of put option	2012-03
Fair value of derivative	$ 0