Millions Left Without Power After Major Blackout Hits Cuba’s Western Region
HAVANA (AP) — A blackout left millions of people without power in Havana and the rest of the west Cuba Wednesday’s outage is the latest on an island struggling with dwindling oil reserves and a crumbling power grid.
It could take at least 72 hours to restart operations disrupted by the shutdown of one of Cuba’s largest thermoelectric power plants, government radio station Radio Rebelde quoted an energy official as saying.
The government electricity utility said on social platform X that the outage affected people from the western town of Pinar del Rio to the central town of Camaguey.
Minister of Energy and Mines Vicente de la O Levy wrote late Wednesday that with the commissioning of two power plants, the government is providing power to critical infrastructure in the affected region. This infrastructure includes hospitals and medical clinics.
“We are working to restore the National Electricity System in the midst of a complex energy situation,” he previously wrote on X.
The US Embassy warned people to “prepare for significant disruptions” and save fuel, water, food and cell phone batteries. “Cuba’s national power grid is becoming increasingly unreliable, and planned and unplanned power outages are lengthening and occurring daily across the country, including in Havana,” X said.
‘We will have to eat bread again’
By late afternoon, the government said crews had restored power to 2.5% of Havana, or about 21,100 customers, adding that the effort was gradual and dependent on what system conditions allowed. Updated numbers were not provided until late Wednesday night.
“We rely on the experience and efforts of the electrical workers to overcome this situation as quickly as possible,” Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz wrote to X.
As night fell, people all over Havana lingered on doorsteps and used wood or charcoal to prepare “caldosa,” a popular soup shared among neighbors who contributed ingredients such as vegetables, chicken, and meat. Along the city’s famous sea wall, a group of musicians played music well into the night.
Others played dominoes with a rechargeable light bulb.
“With the power outages, that’s the only thing we young people have to distract us,” Jefferson Silvera said.
Daily, long blackouts have become so common in Cuba that Genoveva Torres, 66, was waiting for electricity to return at night as usual so she could cook dinner. He became agitated when he was told about the major power outage.
“God, until when?” he shouted. “Then we won’t eat. We’ll have to eat bread again.”
State media reported that the outage was caused by the closure of the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric power plant east of Havana due to a leak in its boiler.
Radio Rebelde quoted the plant’s technical director, Román Pérez Castañeda, as saying that crews needed to identify the fault before repairing it and restarting the unit.
According to Radio Rebelde, Pérez Castañeda said that a pipe in the boiler burst, causing a water leak, and the fire was extinguished without major damage.
Due to the outage, 63-year-old Odalis Sánchez was left on the street with her grandchild. He couldn’t walk due to a recent operation, so he called someone to drive him home.
About 200 people were waiting at a nearby bus stop, but the buses were not running due to lack of fuel, so they tried to board the bus using every possible means, including hitchhiking.
“I need to go back home to see what I can do,” Sánchez said. “You can’t do anything without electricity. My grandson is also studying and I have to prepare dinner for him. Public transport doesn’t help.”
‘We need to move forward’
This second time such an outage It will affect Western Cuba within three months.
The outage in early December lasted approximately 12 hours. The fault in the transmission line connecting the two power plants caused an overload and led to the collapse of the western sector of the power system, officials said.
Officials noted that some thermoelectric power plants have been operating for more than 30 years and receive little maintenance due to high costs. U.S. sanctions also prevent the government from purchasing new equipment and specialized parts, officials say.
Cuba is also struggling with dwindling oil reserves after the US attack Venezuelan The incident halted critical oil shipments from the South American country in early January. Later that month, US President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs To any country that will sell or supply oil to Cuba.
Ernesto Couto Martínez, 76, was trying to find a ride home and said he would face the latest disruption “with the same spirit that all Cubans have.”
“We must continue to fight. There is no other way,” he said. “We have to move forward, blockade or no blockade.”
Last month the Cuban government implemented strict fuel-saving measures and warned: jet fuel would not be available at nine airports by mid-March.
Before the attack on Venezuela, the island was already struggling with a crumbling power grid, generation shortfalls, and fuel supply disruptions.
Coto reported from San José, Costa Rica.
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