XML 46 R34.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.5.0.2

Income Taxes (Details) $ in Thousands	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($)
Tax Year 2014 [Member]
Operating Loss Carryforwards [Line Items]
Net reduction in taxes due to the federal government	$ 17,600

X

- Definition

The reduction of taxes previously paid to the IRS resulting from the adoption of new IRS regulations.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	msex_ReductionOfTaxesPreviouslyPaidResultingFromAdoptionOfNewIrsRegulations
Namespace Prefix:	msex_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_OperatingLossCarryforwardsLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_TaxPeriodAxis=us-gaap_TaxYear2014Member
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: