Fuel Price Insights
How the fuel surcharge works
Three steps, the same three every month, worked here with the figures LUCELEC published for this one.
In one sentence
What it is
The fuel surcharge cost adjustment is the cost of fuel at the current price, less the average cost of fuel in the twelve months preceding 1 January, divided by the total number of units sold.
The tariff rate and the fuel surcharge cost adjustment are computed in accordance with the Electricity Supply Act No. 10 of 1994, as amended by Act Nos. 12 and 13 of 2006.
Worked for October 2026
The three steps
Every figure below is from the statement LUCELEC published for this month.
What the fuel actually cost
The gallons burned in the month, multiplied by the price LUCELEC paid for them.
2,027,944 gallons × EC$16.1861
EC$32,824,504
What it would have cost at the base price
The same gallons, priced at the average LUCELEC paid over the twelve months before 1 January.
2,027,944 gallons × EC$8.6121
EC$17,464,857
The difference, spread across every unit sold
Subtract the second from the first and divide by the units of electricity sold that month. That is the adjustment, in cents per unit.
EC$15,359,648 ÷ 37,055,608 units
41.5 cents per unit
Which is the 41.5 cents added to every unit on bills for October 2026.
Both directions
It can also come back
When fuel costs more than the base price, the difference is added to every bill as a positive adjustment.
When fuel costs less, the difference is returned the same way — a negative adjustment, which reduces the tariff. Customers received one in 13 of the 14 months to February 2026.
The adjustment is a formula, not a discretionary charge: fuel at the price paid, less the same volume at the previous year's average price, divided by the units sold. It is computed under the Electricity Supply Act and published each month over the signature of a Company officer.