Electrical grid failure in Cuba leaves millions without power, officials say

A massive grid failure has left two-thirds of Cuba without electricity.

The collapse of the island’s National Electric System, known as the SEN, has left nearly 7 million of the island’s 10 million inhabitants without power, including in the country’s capital, Havana.

“The causes are being investigated, and protocols for restoration are beginning to be activated,” Cuba’s Ministry of Energy and Mines posted Monday on X.

The Cuban government hasn’t specified the apparent reasons for the blackout, which has reportedly impacted 10 of the country’s 15 provinces, according to the Spanish newspaper El Pais.

Cuban state television blamed an “unfortunate shutdown” of the Antonio Guiteras power plant, the island’s largest generator, for the outage.

Analysts say the already fragile state of Cuba’s electrical grid was shaken by the Trump administration’s decision to cut off its supply of Venezuelan crude and threaten tariffs on any country providing Havana with oil.

“Blackouts are now part of the daily life of Cubans, who in recent months have grown accustomed to outages that in some regions can exceed 20 hours a day,” according to El País. “Cuba is suffering a full-blown energy crisis that has deteriorated significantly over the past year and a half.”

It was the third major blackout in Cuba over the past four months.

Cuba’s aging grid has drastically eroded in recent years, leading to an increase in daily outages and island-wide blackouts. But the government also has blamed its woes on the energy blockade that materialized after President Trump in January warned of tariffs on any country that sells or provides oil to Cuba.

The Trump administration is demanding that Cuba release political prisoners and move toward political and economic liberalization in return for the lifting of sanctions.

William LeoGrande, a professor at American University who has tracked Cuba for years, told the Associated Press that the country’s energy grid hasn’t been maintained properly and its infrastructure is “way past its normal useful life.”

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said on Friday that the island had not received oil shipments in three months and was operating on solar power, natural gas and thermoelectric plants.

Critical oil shipments from Venezuela were halted after the U.S. attacked the South American country in early January and arrested its then-president, Nicolas Maduro.

While Cuba produces 40% of its petroleum and has been generating its own power, it hasn’t been sufficient to meet demand as its electric grid continues to crumble.

On Friday, Mr. Diaz-Canel confirmed that Cuba was holding talks with the U.S. government as the problems continue to deepen.

This article is based in part on wire reports.