STOCK COMPENSATION PLANS (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Disclosure of Compensation Related Costs, Share-based Payments [Abstract]

Total Stock-Based Compensation Expense

Total stock-based compensation expense for the following years was as follows (dollars in thousands):

	2011
	Total		NVE		NPC		SPPC
Non-Qualified Stock Options	$	-	$	-	$	-	$	-
Performance Units and Performance Shares		16,523		163		10,438		5,922
Restricted Stock Units		2,151		35		1,492		624
Employee Stock Purchase Plan		327		18		215		94
Total Stock Compensation Expense	$	19,001	$	216	$	12,145	$	6,640

	2010
	Total		NVE		NPC		SPPC
Non-Qualified Stock Options	$	71	$	1	$	51	$	19
Performance Units and Performance Shares		7,145		54		4,966		2,125
Restricted Stock Units		902		10		610		282
Employee Stock Purchase Plan		376		28		134		214
Total Stock Compensation Expense	$	8,494	$	93	$	5,761	$	2,640

	2009
	Total		NVE		NPC		SPPC
Non-Qualified Stock Options	$	392	$	5	$	282	$	105
Performance Units and Performance Shares		5,440		27		3,837		1,576
Restricted Stock Units		493		4		329		160
Employee Stock Purchase Plan		453		37		249		167
Total Stock Compensation Expense	$	6,778	$	73	$	4,697	$	2,008

Schedule of Share-based Compensation, Stock Options, Activity [Table Text Block]

		2011				2010				2009
				Weighted-				Weighted-				Weighted-
				Average				Average				Average
				Exercise				Exercise				Exercise
		Shares		Price		Shares		Price		Shares		Price
NQSO’s outstanding at beginning of year			728,688	$	15.50		854,717	$	15.40		1,278,557	$	15.65
	Granted		-	$	0.00		-	$	0.00		-	$	-
	Exercised		(118,175)	$	10.26		(44,730)	$	8.83		(8,000)	$	7.35
	Forfeited		(71,063)	$	16.64		(81,299)	$	18.18		(415,840)	$	16.31
NQSO’s outstanding at end of year			539,450	$	16.56		728,688	$	15.50		854,717	$	15.40
Options exercisable at year-end		$	539,450	$	16.56	$	728,688	$	15.50	$	717,705	$	14.84
Intrinsic value of options exercised		$	545,695	$	-	$	146,102	$	-	$	21,120	$	-
Income from options exercised		$	830,771	$	-	$	447,983	$	-	$	64,386	$	-

	Options Outstanding				Options Exercisable
	Weighted-				Weighted-		Number
	Average		Number	Remaining	Average		Vested and
	Exercise		Outstanding at	Contractual	Exercise		Exercisable at
Year of Grant	Price		12/31/11	Life	Price		12/31/11
2002	$	15.58	34,500	<1 year	$	15.58	34,500
2005	$	10.05	40,733	3.1 years	$	10.05	40,733
2006	$	13.24	121,246	4.1 years	$	13.24	121,246
2007	$	18.30	342,971	5.1 -5.8 years	$	18.30	342,971
Weighted Average Remaining
Contractual Life (years)		4.51				4.51
Intrinsic Value	$	659,896			$	659,896

Vesting Schedule for Performance Units

Performance	Shares Vested
Below 35th Percentile	0% of grant
35th Percentile	50% of grant
50th Percentile	100% of grant
75th Percentile	150% of grant

Schedule of Nonvested Performance-based Units Activity [Table Text Block]

		2011				2010					2009
				Weighted-				Weighted-				Weighted-
				Average				Average				Average
				Grant Date				Grant Date				Grant Date
			Shares	Value			Shares	Value			Shares	Value
Nonvested performance units and
performance shares at beginning of year			763,386	$	11.47		765,143	$	11.73		389,681	$	14.96
	Shares granted		890,252	$	15.18		753,612	$	11.78		895,803	$	10.90
	Shares vested		(958,750)	$	13.40		(666,856)	$	12.08		(520,341)	$	12.71
	Shares forfeited		(42,704)	$	12.51		(88,513)	$	11.81		-	$	-
Nonvested performance units and
performance shares at end of year			652,184	$	13.64		763,386	$	11.47		765,143	$	11.73
Weighted average grant date fair value of shares granted		$	13,514,025		-	$	8,877,549		-	$	9,764,253		-
Fair value of shares issued		$	5,441,944		-	$	-		-	$	-		-
Unrecognized compensation expense at end of year		$	10,663,208		-	$	10,725,573		-	$	-		-
Weighted average remaining vesting period (years)			1.63		-		1.65		-		-		-

Schedule of Share-based Compensation, Restricted Stock Units Award Activity [Table Text Block]

		2011				2010				2009
				Weighted-				Weighted-				Weighted-
				Average				Average				Average
				Grant Date				Grant Date				Grant Date
		Shares		Value		Shares		Value		Shares		Value
Nonvested shares at beginning of year			149,779	$	11.54		64,667	$	11.41		32,750	$	12.79
	Shares granted		267,750	$	14.51		169,000	$	11.65		66,000	$	10.94
	Shares vested		(123,413)	$	12.76		(75,708)	$	11.73		(33,083)	$	11.85
	Shares forfeited		(4,906)	$	11.58		(8,180)	$	11.14		(1,000)	$	10.91
Nonvested shares at end of year			289,210	$	13.77		149,779	$	11.53		64,667	$	11.41
Weighted average grant date fair value of shares granted		$	3,885,053		-	$	1,968,850		-	$	722,040		-
Fair value of shares issued		$	671,162		-	$	-		-	$	-		-
Unrecognized compensation expense at end of year		$	4,728,581		-	$	2,104,393		-	$	-		-
	Weighted average remaining vesting period (years)		2.55		-		2.14		-		-		-

Schedule of Share-based Payment Award, Employee Stock Purchase Plan, Valuation Assumptions [Table Text Block]

			Average
	Average	Average	Risk-Free	Weighted-
	Dividend	Expected	Rate of	Average
Year	Yield	Volatility	Return	Fair Value
2011	3.42%	13.99%	0.11%	$	2.82
2010	2.79%	20.02%	0.22%	$	2.55
2009	3.90%	28.89%	0.22%	$	2.54