Consolidated Balance Sheets (Unaudited) (USD $)	Dec. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011
Plant
Utility property, plant and equipment	$ 56,293,395	$ 54,198,924	$ 50,004,178
Less: accumulated depreciation	(16,377,735)	(15,888,267)	(14,793,688)
Total plant utility and non-utility, net	39,915,660	38,310,657	35,210,490
Investments
Marketable securities available-for-sale at fair value	2,277,727	2,271,721	2,379,575
Investment in joint ventures	400,790	349,193
Total investments	2,678,517	2,620,914	2,379,575
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	100,218	70,083	166,035
Customer accounts receivable, (net of allowance for uncollectible accounts of $251,789, $32,132 and $209,615) respectively	2,968,721	1,626,283	2,477,607
Gas stored underground, at average cost	1,333,114	2,111,264	2,279,703
Materials and supplies inventory	1,162,996	1,173,104	928,015
Prepaid expenses	635,942	726,744	600,277
Total current assets	6,200,991	5,707,478	6,451,637
Regulatory assets
Unrecovered gas costs	1,698,535	1,545,235	1,055,040
Deferred regulatory costs	2,039,785	1,545,790	1,373,147
Unamortized debt issuance cost (net of accumulated amortization of $501,249, $455,139 and $489,522), respectively	237,484	249,211	274,808
Deferred income taxes	1,874,872	1,375,665	1,177,891
Other	282,577	259,254	211,398
Total deferred debits and other assets	6,133,253	4,975,155	4,092,284
Total assets	54,928,421	51,614,204	48,133,986
Current liabilities
Current portion of long-term debt	1,638,162	1,571,553	1,333,559
Demand notes payable	750,000	750,000	750,000
Borrowings under lines-of-credit	4,451,596	2,196,995	6,020,507
Accounts payable	1,767,756	1,501,193	2,049,786
Accrued expenses	1,009,246	872,702	1,303,914
Customer deposits and accrued interest	1,288,524	1,032,739	1,325,160
Dividends declared		266,205	209,538
Deferred income taxes	798,645	270,720	252,432
Total current liabilities	11,703,929	8,462,107	13,244,896
Long-term debt, less current installments	12,299,968	12,565,527	10,916,929
Deferred credits and other liabilities
Deferred compensation	1,510,378	1,499,264	1,516,841
Deferred pension costs & post-retirement benefits	7,820,595	7,680,065	6,962,239
Other	453,575	431,680	338,201
Total deferred credits and other liabilities	9,784,548	9,611,009	8,817,281
Common stockholders' equity
Common stock (common stock $5.00 par value per share. Authorized 3,500,000 shares; issued and outstanding 2,233,267 shares at December 31, 2012, 1,823,967 shares at December 31, 2011 and 2,220,271 at September 30, 2012)	11,166,335	11,101,355	9,119,835
Other paid-in capital	11,809,321	11,698,763	7,644,375
Retained earnings	1,521,161	1,421,918	1,220,045
Accumulated other comprehensive loss	(3,356,841)	(3,246,475)	(2,829,375)
Total common stockholders' equity	21,139,976	20,975,561	15,154,880
Total liabilities and capitalization	$ 54,928,421	$ 51,614,204	$ 48,133,986