HAVANA (Reuters) – Millions of Cubans woke up on Sunday to find their homes without power after another power outage overnight, fueling a situation that has raised questions about the effectiveness of government efforts to restore electricity.
The country's chief electricity official, Lazaro Guerra, confirmed the collapse of the grid in the western part of Cuba, including Havana, late Saturday.
Experts were working to resolve the issue, Guerra said, but he did not provide a timeline for when power would be restored to the district.
The capital of nearly two million citizens appeared to be without electricity early Sunday, as many Cubans lined up for aid and repaired outside their homes.
The state-run digital news agency, CubaDebate, reported that the country's largest power plant, Antonio Guiteras, was back online on Sunday and would begin contributing to the restoration of service during the day.
The third grid outage late Saturday marked a major setback in the government's efforts to quickly restore electricity to already exhausted citizens facing shortages of food, medicine and fuel.
The clock was ticking as Hurricane Oscar hit northeastern Cuba early Sunday morning, threatening to complicate government plans to restore electricity.
The Cuban Meteorological Survey has warned of a “very dangerous situation” in eastern Cuba. The entire region was without power or communications ahead of the storm, which was packing winds of up to 100 miles per hour (161 kph) early Sunday morning.
Cuba's national power grid crashed for the first time early Friday morning after the island's main power plant shut down, causing chaos. The grid collapsed again on Saturday morning, state media reported.
On Saturday night, authorities reported some progress in restoring power before announcing another part of the grid collapse.
“The process of revitalizing the electricity system continues to be complex,” the Cuban Ministry of Energy told X.
INCREASED CONTINUITY
Reuters reporters witnessed two small protests overnight after a grid failure left Havana in the dark late Saturday, one on the outskirts of the capital in Marianao and the other in the center of Cuatro Caminos. Various videos of protests elsewhere in the capital began to appear on social media late Saturday, although Reuters was unable to confirm their authenticity.
Internet traffic dropped sharply in Cuba on Saturday, according to data from internet watchdog group NetBlocks, as blackouts made it difficult for many islanders to charge phones and get online.
“Network data shows that Cuba remains offline as the island suffers its second nationwide blackout,” Netblocks said on Saturday.
Even before the grid went down, a severe power outage on Friday forced Cuba's communist-run government to send non-essential government workers home and cancel school as it sought to conserve fuel.
The government attributed weeks of worsening blackouts — as short as 10 to 20 hours a day across much of the island — to crumbling infrastructure, fuel shortages and rising demand.
Cuba also blamed the US trade embargo, as well as sanctions imposed by then-President Donald Trump, for continued difficulties in obtaining fuel and spare parts to operate and maintain its oil refineries.
The US has denied any role in the grid failure.
Cuba produces little of its own. Fuel deliveries to the island have fallen sharply this year as Venezuela, Russia and Mexico, key suppliers, have reduced their shipments to Cuba.
Ally Venezuela has halved its supply of subsidized fuel to Cuba this year, forcing the island to seek the most expensive oil on the market.
(This story has been reposted to correct bullet point formatting)
