Cuba suffers major power outage after substation failure leaves millions without electricity

Chicago Tribune

15-03-2025

HAVANA — Millions of people in Cuba remained without power Saturday after a failure of the nation's electric grid left the island in the dark the previous night.
The massive blackout is the fourth in the last six months as a severe economic crisis plagues the Caribbean country. The Ministry of Energy and Mines, in a statement on social media, attributed the latest outage to a failure at a substation in the suburbs of Havana, the capital.
Internet and telephone service were intermittent about Saturday evening after power went out around 8 p.m. local time Friday.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said on his X account that authorities are 'working intensely to restore stability' to the power system.
Lázaro Guerra, director of electricity at the ministry, said on national television that power was already being generated to support vital services such as hospitals.
A statement from the Cuban Electricity Union released Saturday said the strategy was to create 'microsystems' that will connect to each other to gradually restore electricity across the country. Several of these were already operating in the provinces of Guantánamo, Santiago, Las Tunas and Pinar del Río.
In Sancti Spíritus, the provincial energy company reported on its Telegram channel that more than 200,000 customers in that area had electricity thanks to these microsystems.
Many Cuban families use electric equipment to prepare their meals. The outage could cause food to thaw in refrigerators and possibly spoil due to the island's tropical climate.
'When I was about to start cooking and making some spaghetti, the power went out. 'And now what?' Cecilia Duquense, a 79-year-old housewife who lives in the working-class neighborhood of Central Havana, said Saturday.
In Havana, people were shopping for food Saturday. Businesses were open, although some were operating using batteries or small home generators.
'We are very worried that the food will go bad' in the refrigerator if the blackout lasts much longer, said Frank García, a 26-year-old marker worker in Havana.
Gas stations were also open, but the tunnel that runs under Havana Bay and connects the city to the outskirts was dark.
Cuba suffered similar blackouts in October, November and December. The latest was the first of 2025 but in mid-February authorities suspended classes and work activities for two days due to a shortage of electricity generation that exceeded 50% in the country.
Experts have said the electricity disruptions are a result of fuel shortages at power plants and aging infrastructure. Most plants have been in operation for more than 30 years.
The outages come as Cubans are experiencing a severe economic crisis that analysts have blamed on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, a program of domestic measures that triggered inflation and, above all, the tightening of sanctions by the United States.