LCFS Credit Prices Have Climbed Past $90. Here Is What Is Driving It.
California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard market has real momentum this fall. Credits were trading around $90.75 as of October 9, 2026. That is up from a CARB-reported monthly average of $63 in April and $57 across the fourth quarter of 2025. In about six months, the value of a California LCFS credit has risen by roughly 44%.
For fleets that generate credits by charging electric forklifts, that is very good news. Here is a closer look at how the market got here.
A steady climb since spring
CARB publishes a monthly summary of every credit transfer reported in its system, along with weekly averages. Put together, they show a market that has moved up month after month:
- April 2026: $63 average (CARB monthly report)
- May 2026: $67 average (CARB monthly report)
- June 2026: $68 average (CARB monthly report)
- July 2026: $71 average (CARB monthly report)
- Week of September 28, 2026: $82.18 average (CARB weekly report)
- October 9, 2026: $90.75 (market price)
Trading volume has been strong along the way. CARB's July report counted 665 transfers covering about 10.4 million credits, roughly double June's volume and the busiest month of the year at that point.
CARB's averages include every reported transfer, including contracts priced weeks earlier, so they tend to trail day-to-day market prices. That is why the most recent weekly average sits below October's market price. Both measures tell the same story: credit values are meaningfully higher than they were this spring.
Other West Coast programs are strong too. Oregon Clean Fuels Program credits were around $81 and Washington Clean Fuel Standard credits around $78 as of October 9.
Why demand for credits keeps building
The core reason is simple arithmetic. In Q1 2026, CARB's data shows regulated parties generated about 9.77 million deficits while the market produced about 6.93 million credits. Deficits outpaced credits by roughly 2.8 million in the quarter. When more credits are needed than are being created, each credit carries more value.
The program is also large and liquid. Since 2011, the LCFS has generated roughly 234 million credits, and a bank of about 36.9 million credits remained at the end of Q1 2026. That depth is what lets buyers and sellers transact at scale every week.
Renewable diesel and biomethane remain the largest credit generators by volume, but electricity is a core category too. CARB added electricity supplied to electric forklifts to the LCFS electricity category back in 2016, so forklift charging has been a recognized source of credits for a decade.
What this means for electric forklift fleets
If you run electric forklifts in California, the energy you already use to charge them can earn credits. With credits near $91, each one is worth roughly $28 more than it was in April, and the revenue earned on that charging activity rises with it.
That is the idea behind Anvil Monitor's Remote Energy Monitor, or REM. It measures verified kWh at the charger and feeds it into credit reporting, so your charging data becomes credit revenue without extra work for your team. Anvil covers the device, installation, and platform at no upfront cost, and your share of credit revenue begins accruing from day one. If you want the basics first, our plain-language LCFS overview explains how credits are created and sold.
The takeaway
Six months of rising prices, strong trading volume, and deficits that continue to outpace new credits add up to a market with solid footing. Credit prices will keep moving, but the direction this year has been clear, and fleets already charging electric forklifts are well positioned to benefit.
Curious what your fleet's charging could be worth at today's prices? Try our free forklift revenue estimator for a custom estimate, or see how our $0 upfront model works.