Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2013

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Property, Plant and Equipment

The major components of depreciable plant and equipment as of December 31, 2013 and 2012 are as follows:

	2013		2012
Equipment	$	226,557	214,670
Transmission and distribution	967,031		892,957
Office buildings and other structures	60,998		58,593
Total depreciable plant and equipment	$	1,254,586	1,166,220

Depreciation is computed using the straight-line method over the estimated service lives of the assets, ranging from 5 to 75 years. The estimated service lives of depreciable plant and equipment are as follows:

	Useful Lives
Equipment	5 to 35 years
Transmission and distribution plant	35 to 75 years
Office buildings and other structures	7 to 50 years

Schedule of Real Estate Investments

The major components of real estate investments as of December 31, 2013 and 2012 are as follows:

	2013		2012
Land	$	18,892	18,892
Buildings and improvements	59,256		55,011
Intangibles	329		329
Total real estate investment	$	78,477	74,232

Disclosure of Long Lived Assets Held-for-sale

The following represents the major components of the Connecticut warehouse building recorded in long-lived assets held-for-sale on the Company's Consolidated Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2012.

	December 31, 2012
Land	$	1,200
Buildings and improvements	8,684
Subtotal	9,884
Less: accumulated depreciation and amortization	2,116
Total	$	7,768

Schedule of Future Minimum Rental Payments for Operating Leases

The following schedule shows the future minimum rental payments to be received from third parties under operating leases that have remaining noncancelable lease terms in excess of one year as of December 31, 2013:

Year ending December 31:	Rental Revenue
2014	$	5,497
2015	5,616
2016	5,786
2017	5,883
2018	5,061
Thereafter	31,817

Schedule of Regulatory Assets and Liabilities

Regulatory assets and liabilities are comprised of the following as of December 31:

	2013		2012
Regulatory assets:
Income tax temporary differences, net	$	8,220	8,146
Postretirement pensions and other medical benefits	62,949		113,633
Pension balancing account	9,734		6,671
Water rate assistance program balancing account	2,590		776
Other	4,725		5,151
Total regulatory assets	$	88,218	134,377
Regulatory liabilities:
Cost of capital memorandum account	$	2,297	2,295
Water supply balancing accounts	2,378		1,594
Total regulatory liabilities	$	4,675	3,889
Net regulatory assets included in Consolidated Balance Sheets	$	83,543	130,488

Schedule of Estimated Refunds of Advances for Construction and Contributions in Aid of Construction

Estimated refunds for the next five years and thereafter are shown below:

	Estimated Refunds
2014	$	2,402
2015	2,403
2016	2,402
2017	2,402
2018	2,402
Thereafter	58,032

Schedule of Asset Retirement Obligations

For the years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012, the asset retirement obligation is as follows:

	2013			2012
Retirement obligation	$	4,612		4,650
Discount rate	6		%	6	%
Present value, recorded as a liability	1,733			1,807
Deferred tax	1,192			1,242
Regulatory asset	$	2,925		3,049