Cuba still largely without power after nationwide grid collapse

Cuba Plunged into Darkness as Power Grid Collapses, RaisingConcerns About Aging Infrastructure

Cuba remained largely without electricity on Saturday morning, following the collapse of its national power grid the night before. The outage left approximately 10 million people—nearly the entire population—without power, sparking fresh concerns about the island’s outdated and fragile energy system. By sunrise, the grid operator, Unión Eléctrica (UNE), reported that only about 225 megawatts (MW) of electricity were being generated, a mere fraction of the country’s total demand. This limited supply was barely enough to sustain essential services such as hospitals, water treatment plants, and food production facilities. Despite ongoing efforts to restore power, officials provided no clear timeline for when full electricity might be reinstated.

A Long and Uncertain Road to Recovery

Cuban authorities announced that they had begun the process of restarting the country’s aging power plants, many of which are decades old. However, the complexity of the task and the deteriorated state of the grid make the road to recovery long and uncertain. The blackout occurred Friday evening at around 8:15 p.m. local time, after an aging component of a transmission line at a substation in Havana short-circuited. This incident triggered a chain reaction that shut down power generation across the entire island. The collapse comes on the heels of a series of nationwide blackouts late last year, which exposed the vulnerabilities of Cuba’s power system, already strained by fuel shortages, natural disasters, and economic crisis.

Life in the Dark: Havana and Beyond

As Saturday morning dawned, Havana remained largely without electricity, with traffic navigating intersections where stoplights were out of service. Cellular internet was also weak or unavailable in many areas, further complicating communication and daily life for residents. Abel Bonne, a Havana resident, expressed the frustration and uncertainty felt by many. "Right now, no one knows when the power will come back on," he said while chatting with friends on the Malecón waterfront. "This is the first time this has happened this year, but last year it happened three times." For many Cubans, such blackouts have become a grim reality, with those outside Havana enduring rolling blackouts that have lasted up to 20 hours a day in recent weeks.

Economic Crisis and U.S. Embargo: The Roots of the Problem

The power outage is just one symptom of Cuba’s broader economic crisis, which has made life increasingly difficult for its citizens. Severe shortages of food, medicine, and water have become commonplace, and the country’s infrastructure is in disrepair. Cuban officials have long blamed the U.S. trade embargo, imposed during the Cold War, for many of its economic woes. The embargo restricts financial transactions and limits access to essential imports, including fuel and spare parts needed to maintain and update the power grid. A grid official emphasized that the restrictions have prevented the modernization of Cuba’s antiquated transmission and generation systems.

A Perfect Storm: Sanctions, Shortages, and Exodus

The situation has been exacerbated by tighter sanctions imposed by former U.S. President Donald Trump, who vowed to take a harder line against the Cuban government. These measures have further restricted Cuba’s ability to acquire the resources needed to address its energy crisis. Meanwhile, the combination of economic hardship and lack of basic services has driven record numbers of Cubans to flee the island in search of better opportunities abroad. For those who remain, life is a daily struggle. Yunior Reyes, a bike taxi driver in Havana, reflected on the challenges: "We’re all in the same situation. It’s a lot of work," he said, worrying about his food reserves spoiling in the heat as the blackout dragged on.

A Crisis Beyond Power: The Human Toll

The power outage in Cuba is more than just a technical failure—it is a symptom of a deeper systemic crisis. The country’s economic struggles, compounded by the U.S. embargo and decades of underinvestment in infrastructure, have created a perfect storm of scarcity and hardship. For millions of Cubans, the lack of reliable electricity is not an isolated issue but one of many challenges they face daily, alongside food and medicine shortages. As the blackout stretched into Saturday, many wondered how long it would take for life to return to normal—and whether normalcy would ever fully return. The situation underscores the urgent need for systemic change and international cooperation to address Cuba’s growing humanitarian crisis.