Consolidated Balance Sheets (Unaudited) (USD $)	Mar. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011	Mar. 31, 2011
Plant
Utility property, plant and equipment	$ 50,751,718	$ 47,490,565	$ 45,792,573
Less: accumulated depreciation	(15,201,906)	(14,361,951)	(13,643,220)
Total plant utility and non-utility, net	35,549,812	33,128,614	32,149,353
Investments
Marketable securities available-for-sale at fair value	2,208,553	2,267,268	2,415,153
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	168,164	173,245	151,969
Customer accounts receivable, (net of allowance for uncollectible accounts of $28,259, $47,847 and $46,080) respectively	2,677,183	1,598,241	3,520,114
Gas stored underground, at average cost	846,884	2,832,932	198,545
Materials and supplies inventory	950,838	1,188,017	605,991
Prepaid expenses	1,062,992	703,959	994,217
Total current assets	5,706,061	6,496,394	5,470,836
Regulatory assets
Unrecovered gas costs	730,691	536,648	853,761
Deferred regulatory costs	1,562,345	1,207,028	938,478
Unamortized debt issuance cost (net of accumulated amortization of $466,456, $420,249 and $443,854), respectively	264,148	286,093	293,343
Deferred income taxes	514,383	1,308,298
Other	219,012	221,089	230,485
Total deferred debits and other assets	3,290,579	3,559,156	2,316,067
Total assets	46,755,005	45,451,432	42,351,409
Current liabilities
Current portion of long-term debt	1,311,021	945,063	1,146,961
Demand notes payable	750,000	750,000	750,000
Borrowings under lines-of-credit	3,091,447	4,178,784	2,482,422
Accounts payable	1,599,681	1,882,249	1,975,392
Accrued expenses	1,165,184	1,338,446	1,011,069
Customer deposits and accrued interest	809,854	1,034,319	587,729
Dividends declared	236,270	205,375	199,991
Deferred income taxes	146,607	147,779	88,988
Total current liabilities	9,110,064	10,482,015	8,242,552
Long-term debt, less current installments	10,711,764	11,534,801	10,002,928
Deferred credits and other liabilities
Deferred income tax			640,712
Deferred compensation	1,198,217	1,849,019	1,850,111
Deferred pension costs & post-retirement benefits	7,301,876	6,622,459	6,485,001
Other	306,781	316,556	184,458
Total deferred credits and other liabilities	8,806,874	8,788,034	9,160,282
Common stockholders' equity
Common stock (common stock $5.00 par value per share. Authorized 3,500,000 shares; issued and outstanding 1,970,818 shares at March 31, 2012, 1,741,899 shares at March 31, 2011 and 1,787,769 at September 30, 2011)	9,854,090	8,938,845	5,806,330
Other paid-in capital	9,017,260	7,382,167	8,299,843
Retained earnings	2,120,946	1,018,766	3,337,590
Accumulated other comprehensive loss	(2,865,993)	(2,693,196)	(2,498,116)
Total common stockholders' equity	18,126,303	14,646,582	14,945,647
Total liabilities and capitalization	$ 46,755,005	$ 45,451,432	$ 42,351,409