St. Lucia Electricity Services Limited has notified customers that September electricity bills will carry a fuel surcharge of 35.6 cents per kilowatt-hour, the steepest the utility has imposed in 2026.
The charge stems from fuel purchased in August, when crude oil traded around US$91 per barrel on international markets. That represented a jump of roughly US$7 from July's average, driven by geopolitical tensions and supply disruptions affecting global energy markets.
Managing Director Gilroy Pultie noted that the utility had locked in prices for 45 per cent of its fuel needs between August and October through hedging arrangements. Even with that protection, the September surcharge eclipsed the previous year-high of 31 cents from May. Without the hedging strategy in place, Pultie explained, the company would have paid US$15.16 per gallon instead of the US$14.87 it actually spent.
Pultie described the situation: "The scale, speed and duration of recent increases in global fuel prices significantly reduced the extent to which those hedges could offset higher fuel costs." He cautioned that October could bring further increases unless fuel prices retreat soon.
The utility stressed that the fuel surcharge is a cost-pass-through mechanism that generates no profit. It is exploring longer-term alternatives to reduce reliance on imported fuel, including a planned 10-megawatt solar installation with battery storage at Troumassee. LUCELEC aims to source at least 15 per cent of its power from renewables by 2030, climbing to 50 per cent by 2035.
Customer-installed solar systems connected to the LUCELEC network grew from 411 units in the first quarter of 2026 to 443 by the second quarter.
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