Resigned, Cubans Prepared for Another Night Without Power
despite the announced recovery of the national electrical system
Authorities admit they have only restored 42% of the power needed to meet national demand.
HAVANA TIMES – At 1:32 p.m. this Thursday, 28 hours and 9 minutes after Cuba suffered its fifth nationwide blackout in less than a year, the authorities announced that the country’s power grid had been restored. “All provinces are now connected” to the National Electric System (SEN), reported the Ministry of Energy and Mines on its X account.
Half an hour later, the newsroom of 14ymedio in Havana’s Plaza de la Revolución municipality got power back, although water did not return. According to Tribuna de La Habana, water service in that district will not resume until early Friday morning. Similarly, Cerro will not have water until after 10 p.m. Thursday, the same as Centro Habana, Old Havana, and various parts of Diez de Octubre, where only Santos Suárez is promised water starting at 2 p.m.
The Guiteras thermoelectric plant in Matanzas—identified by officials as the source of this new energy collapse—was restarted around 11:30 a.m. The Ministry reported, also via social media, that the plant synchronized with the SEN and is producing 50 megawatts (MW). “During the rest of the day, it will continue increasing its output,” Cubadebate noted.
However, reconnection of the SEN does not mean that electricity has returned to all Cuban households. Shortly after noon, Omar Ramíiez, deputy director of the state utility Unión Eléctrica (UNE), warned that “although we have returned to the condition prior to the collapse, it is still not possible to cover the country’s total demand.” At that time, the company said it had 1,486 MW available—barely 42% of the maximum demand reported days earlier (around 3,500 MW).
The official also pointed out that “thanks to the experience accumulated in previous events, protocols have been consolidated that allow for a faster response in restoring service throughout the national territory.”
As usual with the regime, the official narrative during the long day Cubans spent without power, improvising all kinds of contraptions to meet basic needs, was filled with adjectives and heroic rhetoric. “The Guiteras emits steam, a sign of the restart process at the thermoelectric plant since early morning hours,” wrote a local journalist on social media. “Inside, there is tension, meticulousness, waiting. Moments of silence, interrupted by the deafening noise of steam escaping from the pipes.”
Yet the optimistic tone from some officials stands in sharp contrast to the weary resignation—and often despair—of a population accustomed to spoiled food, being eaten alive by mosquitoes without fans, or, as happened to Havana resident Mariana, losing her ophthalmology appointment this Thursday.
In an interview with Canal Caribe, Deputy Minister of Public Health Carilda Peña García assured that there was no major contingency, since hospital generators were operating, as well as oxygen and nitrogen supplies, and surgeries were carried out without setbacks.
Wednesday’s blackout was the second of its kind this year, after another in March. At the end of 2024, the national grid suffered three similar disconnections in less than two months, plunging the country into total darkness. The December 4 outage was caused by an “automatic trip” precisely at the Antonio Guiteras plant, the same as on October 18.
The Guiteras outage coincided with the shutdown of other plants due to breakdowns or maintenance: two units at Rente, two at Felton, one at Nuevitas, another at the Mariel plant, another at Santa Cruz del Norte, and another at the Carlos Manuel de Cespedes plant in Cienfuegos.
Just two days ago, the Ministry of Energy and Mines released a devastating report through its general director of Electricity, Lazaro Guerra Hernández. In a press briefing, he explained that during July the average daily hours without electricity in Cuba were almost 16, and in August, nearly 15.
The official data confirmed the daily suffering of Cubans, whose top concern right now is the blackouts, as reflected in the latest report by the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights.
First published in Spanish by 14ymedio and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.