Cuba forced to cripple economy amid desperate energy crisis | Energy News

The island was hit by a nationwide power outage on Friday, but the prime minister says the country is “not yet in a bottomless abyss”.

The Cuban government has announced it will suspend all non-essential government services and businesses for three days as it grapples with an energy crisis that has caused hours-long power outages across much of the country.

Prime Minister Manuel Marrero outlined the measures in a speech on Thursday evening, saying the government had no choice but to “paralyze the economy.”

This includes the closure of all cultural activities and leisure centers such as discos and public schools until Monday, Cuba's state electricity union said in a press release.

After initially announcing staggered geographical outages, the government declared a nationwide complete collapse of the national electricity system just after 11 a.m. (3:00 GMT) on Friday morning, saying it was “totally shut down.”

It added that the state-owned electricity company was “working on its re-establishment.”

Marrero blamed the energy shortage on a perfect storm familiar to most Cubans – deteriorating infrastructure, fuel shortages and rising demand.

“Fuel shortage is the biggest factor,” Marrero said in the televised address, which was ironically interrupted by technical glitches.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel attributed the problem to U.S. “financial and energy persecution,” which he said had made it “difficult to import fuel and other necessary resources.”

Cuba affected by the Venezuela crisis

Given U.S. sanctions, Cuba has long relied on subsidized Venezuelan oil, but that supply is becoming increasingly precarious as Venezuela struggles with its own economic problems. And Venezuela's allies Russia and China have not sent enough aid to close the gap, despite their expressions of political solidarity.

Despite the crippling power outages and shortages, Cuba is “not yet in a bottomless abyss,” Marrero assured.

Twelve-hour power outages

Millions of Cubans, long accustomed to frequent outages, have recently been hit by dramatically extended power outages, often lasting more than 12 hours. Outside the capital, Havana, electricity is scarcest and is often unavailable for more than 18 hours a day.

The problem has been exacerbated by last week's advance of Hurricane Milton, whose violent gusts and waves, according to Cuban authorities, disrupted fuel deliveries from boats offshore to power plants.

In addition, the island's two largest power plants, Antonio Guiteras and Felton, are both producing too little, the government says, and will soon be taken offline for maintenance, part of a four-year plan to revitalize Cuba's dilapidated infrastructure.

Eventually, the floating Turkish energy ships, which generate significant electricity for Cuba, ran out of fuel, causing them to shut down.

A tougher bill for companies

Officials said they expect power production to improve in the coming days as fuel is distributed around the Caribbean's largest island with a population of 10 million.

But Cuba's fast-growing private companies, which authorities say tend to use a lot of electricity, will soon be charged higher tariffs for the energy they use, Marrero said.

Cuba's worsening power crisis made life increasingly unbearable for residents who were already suffering crippling shortages of food, fuel, water and medicine.

Around five percent of the population – over 600,000 people – do not have regular access to running water, according to government officials, a problem that is also due to the country's dilapidated infrastructure and fuel needs.

At the same time, reports suggest that violent crime is on the rise on the island, particularly linked to the emergence of a new cannabis-based drug called “Quimico”.