Cuba begins to restore power after nationwide grid collapse
[March 23, 2026]
By ANDREA RODRÍGUEZ
HAVANA (AP) — Cuba began restoring its energy system on Sunday, a day
after a nationwide collapse of the entire grid left millions of people
in the dark for the third time this month.
Some 72,000 customers in the capital, among them five hospitals, had
electricity again early Sunday, according to a report from the state-run
Electric Union and the Ministry of Energy and Mines, but it's only a
fraction of Havana’s total population of approximately 2 million.
In Havana and provinces such as western Matanzas and eastern Holguin,
local power microsystems were set up to supply the most vital centers.
Residents in some areas of the capital told The Associated Press that
power returned during the early morning hours.
Cuba is currently facing an unprecedented energy crisis. Its aging grid
has drastically eroded in recent years, but the government has also
blamed the outages on a U.S. energy blockade, after President Donald
Trump in January warned of tariffs on any country that sells or provides
oil to Cuba. His administration is demanding that Cuba release political
prisoners and move toward political and economic liberalization in
return for a lifting of sanctions. Trump also has raised the possibility
of a “friendly takeover of Cuba.”
Another reason Cuba has been struggling with dwindling oil is the
removal by the U.S. of Venezuela’s former President Nicolás Maduro,
which halted critical petroleum shipments from the nation that had been
a steadfast ally to Havana.
President Miguel Díaz-Canel has said the island has not received oil
from foreign suppliers for three months. Cuba produces barely 40% of the
fuel it needs to power its economy.
Daily blackouts have a significant impact on the population, whose lives
are disrupted by reduced work hours, lack of electricity for cooking and
damage to household appliances, among many other consequences.
“With the blackout and low voltage, my refrigerator broke — that was
today. The day before yesterday, the voltage also dropped around 10 at
night,” Suleydi Crespo, a 33-year-old woman with two small children,
told AP on Saturday. “If there’s no electricity tomorrow, we won’t be
able to get water.”
Residents also expressed exhaustion from the constant outages, whether
nationwide or partial.
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People spend the night in the dark on the Malecon during a blackout
in Havana, Cuba, Saturday, March 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
The Cuban Electric Union, which reports to the Ministry of Energy
and Mines, reported that the total disconnection of the national
energy system was caused by an unexpected shutdown of a generation
unit at the Nuevitas thermoelectric plant in Camaguey province,
without providing details on the specific cause of the failure.
The last nationwide blackout occurred on Monday. It took several
days to restore power.
Saturday’s outage was the second in the past week and the third in
March.
“We have to get used to continuing our usual routine. What else can
we do? We have to try to survive. Get used to events, with or
without electricity,” said Dagnay Alarcón, a 35-year-old vendor.
Authorities and Díaz-Canel himself have acknowledged the seriousness
of the current energy situation. The Vice Minister of Energy and
Mines Argelio Abad Vigo explained this week that the country has
gone three months without receiving supplies of diesel, fuel oil,
gasoline, aviation fuel or liquefied petroleum gas — all vital for
the economy and power generation.
Fuel sales for vehicles are rationed, airlines have suspended
flights or reduced frequencies many workplaces have reduced hours.
Trump has for months suggested Cuba’s government is on the verge of
collapse. After a previous time Cuba’s electric grid collapsed,
Trump told reporters he believed he’d soon have “the honor of taking
Cuba.”
María Regla Cardoso, a housewife in Havana, said she isn't
interested in politics and that Cubans have to keep living.
“I leave everything in God’s hands. Whatever form the situation
takes, we just have to face it.”
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