COMBINED AND CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Total	Common Class A	Common Class B	Member's Equity	Common Stock Common Class A	Common Stock Common Class B	Preferred Stock	Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income	Additional Paid-In Capital	Retained Deficit	Total Stockholders' Equity	Non-controlling Interest
Accumulated OCI balance, beginning of period at Dec. 31, 2012	$ 61,302			$ 63,838				$ (2,536)
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Capital contributions from member and liabilities retained by affiliate	12,400			12,400
Distributions to member	(71,737)			(71,737)
Net income (loss)	31,412			31,412
Deferred gain from cash flow hedges	2,620							2,620
Reclassification of deferred loss from cash flow hedges into net income	(84)							(84)
Issuance of Class B common stock	0
Consolidated net income (loss)	31,412
Accumulated OCI balance, end of period at Dec. 31, 2013	35,913			35,913				0
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Capital contributions from member and liabilities retained by affiliate	54,201			54,201
Distributions to member	(61,607)			(61,607)
Net income (loss)	(21)			(21)
Shares, end of period at Jul. 31, 2014					0	0	0
Accumulated OCI balance, end of period at Jul. 31, 2014	28,486			28,486	$ 0	$ 0		0	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0
Accumulated OCI balance, beginning of period at Dec. 31, 2013	35,913			35,913				0
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Net income (loss)	(54)
Deferred gain from cash flow hedges	0
Reclassification of deferred loss from cash flow hedges into net income	0
Issuance of Class B common stock	28,486
Consolidated net income (loss)	(4,265)
Shares, end of period at Dec. 31, 2014					3,000,000	10,750,000	0
Accumulated OCI balance, end of period at Dec. 31, 2014	24,117				$ 30	$ 108		0	9,296	(775)	8,659	15,458
Accumulated OCI balance, beginning of period at Jul. 31, 2014	28,486			28,486	$ 0	$ 0		0	0	0	0	0
Shares, beginning of period at Jul. 31, 2014					0	0	0
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Issuance of Class B common stock				(28,486)		$ 108			28,378		28,486
Issuance of Class B common stock (in shares)						10,750,000
IPO costs paid	(2,667)								(2,667)		(2,667)
Issuance of Class A Common Stock, net of underwriters discount	50,220				$ 30				50,190		50,220
Issuance of Class A Common Stock, net of underwriters discount (in shares)		3,000,000	10,750,000		3,000,000
Distribution of IPO proceeds and payment of note payable to affiliate	(47,604)								(47,604)		(47,604)
Initial allocation of non-controlling interest of Spark Energy, Inc. effective on date of IPO									(22,232)		(22,232)	22,232
Tax benefit from tax receivable agreement	23,636								23,636		23,636
Liability due to tax receivable agreement	(20,915)								(20,915)		(20,915)
Shares, end of period at Aug. 01, 2014					3,000,000	10,750,000	0
Accumulated OCI balance, end of period at Aug. 01, 2014	31,156			$ 0	$ 30	$ 108		0	8,786	0	8,924	22,232
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Stock based compensation	510								510		510
Consolidated net income (loss)	(4,244)									(54)	(54)	(4,190)
Distributions paid to Class B non-controlling unit holders	(2,584)											(2,584)
Dividends paid to Class A common shareholders	(721)									(721)	(721)
Shares, end of period at Dec. 31, 2014					3,000,000	10,750,000	0
Accumulated OCI balance, end of period at Dec. 31, 2014	24,117				$ 30	$ 108		0	9,296	(775)	8,659	15,458
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Net income (loss)	3,865
Deferred gain from cash flow hedges	0
Reclassification of deferred loss from cash flow hedges into net income	0
Issuance of Class B common stock	0
Stock based compensation	2,165								2,165		2,165
Consolidated net income (loss)	25,975									3,865	3,865	22,110
Restricted stock unit vesting (in shares)					119,000
Restricted stock unit vesting	187				$ 1				186		187
Contribution from NuDevco	129								129		129
Beneficial conversion feature	789								789		789
Distributions paid to Class B non-controlling unit holders	(15,587)											(15,587)
Dividends paid to Class A common shareholders	(4,456)									(4,456)	(4,456)
Shares, end of period at Dec. 31, 2015					3,119,000	10,750,000	0
Accumulated OCI balance, end of period at Dec. 31, 2015	$ 33,319				$ 31	$ 108		$ 0	$ 12,565	$ (1,366)	$ 11,338	$ 21,981