Cuba: Power Is Back, Blackouts Can Resume

UPDATE Dec 5, 2024 3:55 PM CST

Cuban authorities say an unscheduled nationwide power blackout is over and regularly scheduled blackouts can resume. Authorities said Thursday that the country's power grid was back up, a day after a power plant failure caused a collapse, though Reuters reports that generation remained well below demand. The nationwide blackout was the third in the space of less than two months. The AP reports that authorities now plan to resume the system of regular daily five-hour power outages, ordered sector by sector, that has been in place for months. Outside Havana, the blackouts can last as long as 12 hours, CNN reports.

Dec 4, 2024 9:21 AM CST

Cuba found itself without power once again on Wednesday, with Reuters reporting the country's grid collapsed after its largest power plant failed around 2am. Witnesses said Havana was almost entirely dark save for a few large hotels and government buildings, and while the outage's reach hasn't been confirmed, social media posts indicated the full island could be without power. CNN reports the state-run Cuban Electric Union said work to bring the grid back online is underway, but residents were warned it could take as long as days. Bloomberg reports a failure at the same plant in October caused a days-long outage. Context from Reuters:

• "Cuba's oil-fired power plants, already obsolete and struggling to keep the lights on, reached a full crisis this year as oil imports from Venezuela, Russia and Mexico dwindled, contributing to multiple nationwide blackouts in the last two months."

(More Cuba stories.)