Major Blackout Strikes Western Cuba, Millions Left Without Electricity
A severe blackout has engulfed the western half of Cuba, leaving millions of residents in Havana and beyond without power. This latest outage underscores the island's ongoing struggles with dwindling oil reserves and a deteriorating electrical grid.
Government Response and Restoration Efforts
According to government radio station Radio Rebelde, an energy official indicated that it might take at least 72 hours to restore operations at Cuba's largest thermoelectric power plant, which shut down earlier and triggered the outage. The government's electric utility confirmed on social platform X that the blackout impacted areas from Pinar del Rio in the west to Camaguey in central Cuba.
By late Thursday afternoon, authorities reported that power had been restored to approximately 2.5% of Havana, equating to around 21,100 customers. They emphasized that restoration efforts were gradual and dependent on the system's conditions.
Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz expressed confidence in the electrical workers' ability to resolve the situation swiftly, stating on X, "We trust in the experience and effort of the electrical workers to overcome this situation in the shortest possible time." Meanwhile, Energy and Mines Minister Vicente de la O Levy noted that one affected power plant was back online, adding, "We are working to restore the National Electric System amid a complex energy situation."
Causes and Technical Details
State media attributed the outage to a shutdown at the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric power plant, located east of Havana, following a boiler leak. Román Pérez Castañeda, the plant's technical director, explained to Radio Rebelde that crews must first locate the fault, determine the repair method, fix it, and then restart and synchronize the unit.
Pérez Castañeda detailed that a pipe burst in the boiler caused a water leak and subsequent fire, which firefighters extinguished without major damage.
Impact on Daily Life and Public Reaction
The blackout disrupted daily activities for many Cubans. Odalis Sánchez, 63, found herself stranded on the street with her grandson. Due to a recent operation, she was unable to walk and had to call for a ride home. Approximately 200 people waited at a nearby bus stop, but buses were not running due to fuel shortages, forcing them to seek alternative transportation, including hitchhiking.
Sánchez expressed her frustration, saying, "I need to be able to get home to see what I can do. Without power, you can’t do anything. My grandson also is studying and I have to make him food. Public transportation isn’t helping."
Ernesto Couto Martínez, 76, echoed a resilient attitude, stating he would face the outage "with the spirit that all Cubans have." He added, "We must keep fighting. There’s no other way. We have to move forward, blockade or no blockade."
Broader Context and Previous Incidents
This marks the second major outage in Cuba's western region within the past three months. In early December, a blackout lasted nearly 12 hours, caused by a fault in a transmission line that led to an overload and collapse of the energy system's western sector.
Cuba's energy woes have been exacerbated by dwindling oil reserves, particularly after the U.S. attacked Venezuela in early January, halting critical petroleum shipments. Later that month, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on countries supplying oil to Cuba.
Last month, the Cuban government implemented austere fuel-saving measures and warned that jet fuel would be unavailable at nine airports until mid-March. Even before the Venezuela attack, the island was grappling with a crumbling electric grid, generation deficits, and fuel supply interruptions.
