NEVLEC reintroduces fuel surcharge as rising costs pressure electricity tariffs in Nevis

St Kitts and Nevis: The Nevis Electricity Company Limited (NEVLEC) has recently announced the reintroduction of a fuel surcharge for households citing rising fuel prices have led to an increase in cost of generating electricity. The company has also made adjustments to the surcharge for commercial customers due to the said reason.

NEVLEC claimed that the existing tariff on electricity is insufficient to cover the cost of generating power. According to the press release issued by the company, the changes and adjustments will come in effect from the June 2026 billing period. These changes are deemed important to cover generation costs while producing sufficient power across the island.

Efforts have been made previously in May 2024 to avoid the reintroduction of the fuel surcharge for domestic customers. As explained by NEVLEC, “At that time, the intention was for domestic customers to contribute to the cost of fuel through the adjusted energy charge, while limiting the full impact of fuel price on monthly bills.” But now, because of the unstable fuel prices, a significant pressure is being placed on the cost of electricity generation and the existing tariff structure is not sufficient to cover the cost of fuel required to produce reliable electricity service.

According to the recent press release, the company’s actual fuel cost factor increased from $0.53/kWh in April to $0.76/kWh in May, and then further rose to $0.79/kWh in June 2026.

As per calculations, the fuel surcharge for the current billing period is $0.79kWh, however in effort to reduce the immediate impact on domestic customers, the fuel surcharge will be applied at the rate of $0.69kWh. On the other hand, the commercial customers will be charged based on the applicable surcharge calculated for the current billing period.

NEVLEC stressed that the fuel surcharge is directly connected to fuel prices and is not a fixed charge. It can increase or decrease month to month according to the cost of fuel.

These adjustments are described as a temporary measure taken by the company to cope up with rising fuel costs. NEVLEC will continue to monitor fuel prices and assured that they would review the surcharge once the fuel costs stabilize.

The company issued a list of energy-efficiency tips  to help customers manage their electricity expenses. These include, turning off electrical appliances like lights, fans, televisions, etc when not in use, unplugging chargers and devices when unused, using air conditioning only when required and setting the thermostat at an efficient temperature of 24°C, using LED bulbs and energy-efficient devices, washing full loads when using washing machines, avoiding leaving refrigerators open for long periods, and ironing clothes in batches instead of heating the iron several times.

NEVLEC encouraged customers to conserve energy and reaffirmed its promise to produce and deliver reliable electricity service across the island.