Overview
- State power company Unión Eléctrica (UNE) said the national system suffered a “total disconnection” late on Sunday, the latest in a series of full‑island collapses this year and commonly counted as the sixth nationwide blackout of 2026.
- Officials and analysts point to failing, decades‑old thermoelectric plants, chronic maintenance shortfalls and severe fuel shortages as the technical drivers behind the collapses, while the Cuban government blames U.S. energy restrictions and Washington cites underinvestment and mismanagement.
- Restoration follows a staged restart plan that begins with isolated solar, hydro and generator ‘micro‑islands’ before synchronizing larger plants, and those restart efforts were set back by stormy weather and frequency fluctuations during recent attempts to reconnect units.
- The outages are disrupting hospitals, water pumping, communications and food refrigeration and have forced many people to sleep outdoors to escape the heat; the U.S. Embassy in Havana warned travelers to prepare for prolonged service interruptions.
- Havana has approved limited private fuel imports and new foreign investment measures to ease shortages, but officials and independent experts say meaningful recovery will be slow and will require major investment to replace aging plants.