Commitment & Contingencies (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended				96 Months Ended						12 Months Ended
	Oct. 31, 2012	Oct. 31, 2011	Oct. 31, 2010	Oct. 31, 1997	Feb. 29, 2020 Tennessee Regulatory Authority [Member]	Oct. 31, 2012 Tennessee Regulatory Authority [Member]	Oct. 31, 2012 Letter Of Credit [Member]	Oct. 31, 2011 Letter Of Credit [Member]	Oct. 31, 2012 Environmental Costs [Member]	Oct. 31, 2011 Environmental Costs [Member]	Oct. 31, 2012 Hickory North Carolina Site [Member]	Oct. 31, 2012 Reidsville North Carolina Site [Member]	Oct. 31, 2012 Nashville MGP [Member]	Oct. 31, 2012 Huntersville LNG Facility [Member]	Oct. 31, 2012 Nashville LNG Facility [Member]	Oct. 31, 2010 Underground Storage Tank [Member]	Oct. 31, 2010 Manufactured Gas Plant Sites [Member]	Oct. 31, 2010 Liquified Natural Gas Facilites [Member]	Oct. 31, 2012 Huntersville LNG Groundwanter Remediation [Member]	Apr. 11, 2012 Huntersville LNG Groundwanter Remediation [Member]	Oct. 31, 2012 Pipeline And Storage Capacity Contacts [Member]	Oct. 31, 2012 Gas Supply Contracts [Member]	Oct. 31, 2012 Telecommunications And Technology Outsourcing Contracts [Member]	Oct. 31, 2012 Others [Member]
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]
Operating Lease Payments	$ 3,712,000	$ 4,496,000	$ 5,303,000
Operating Leases Future Minimum Payments Due Current	4,265,000
Operating Leases Future Minimum Payments Due In Two Years	4,186,000
Operating Leases Future Minimum Payments Due In Three Years	3,984,000
Operating Leases Future Minimum Payments Due In Four Years	3,939,000
Operating Leases Future Minimum Payments Due In Five Years	3,739,000
Operating Leases Future Minimum Payments Due Thereafter	31,895,000
Operating Leases Future Minimum Payments Due	52,008,000
Unrecorded Unconditional Purchase Obligation [Line Items]
Unrecorded Unconditional Purchase Obligation Balance On First Anniversary	196,569,000																				152,163,000	6,149,000	9,459,000	28,798,000
Unrecorded Unconditional Purchase Obligation Balance On Second Anniversary	149,280,000																				140,767,000	0	8,513,000	0
Unrecorded Unconditional Purchase Obligation Balance On Third Anniversary	135,621,000																				132,450,000	0	3,171,000	0
Unrecorded Unconditional Purchase Obligation Balance On Fourth Anniversary	76,567,000																				76,007,000	0	560,000	0
Unrecorded Unconditional Purchase Obligation Balance On Fifth Anniversary	61,006,000																				61,006,000	0	0	0
Unrecorded Unconditional Purchase Obligation Due After Fifth Year	286,373,000																				286,373,000	0	0	0
Unrecorded Unconditional Purchase Obligation	905,416,000																				848,766,000	6,149,000	21,703,000	28,798,000
Number Of Regulatory Commissions	3
MGP Sites Under Settlement				9
MGP Sites Not Under Settlement	4
Site Contingency [Line Items]
Site Contingency Environmental Remediation Costs Recognized											1,400,000	600,000	1,500,000	3,900,000	500,000
Environmental Remediation Costs Estimated	2,100,000															300,000	1,100,000	400,000	300,000
Administrative Consent Order Fine																				40,000
Administrative Consent Order Unpaid Annual Fees																				18,000
Administrative Consent Order Investigative And Administrative Cost																				1,860
Number Of Monitoring Wells												5
Site Contingency, Unasserted Claims	0
Regulatory Assets [Line Items]
Regulatory Assets	293,104,000	200,135,000							10,202,000	9,644,000
Line Of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Credit Facility Amount Outstanding							3,600,000	3,500,000
Schedule Of Regulatory Matters [Line Items]
Approved Recovery Unamortized Environmental Costs						$ 2,000,000
Amortization Period Recovery Deferred Environmental Costs					8 years