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Cuba Loses Power Nationwide in Sixth Grid Failure of 2026

4 hours ago

Cuba's entire electricity grid collapsed on 19 September, cutting power to millions amid fuel shortages worsened by a US oil blockade.

Millions of people across Cuba lost electricity on Friday, 19 September, after the island's national grid failed completely and cut power from one end of the country to the other. The energy ministry described the event as a "total disconnection," and it ranks as at least the sixth full or partial collapse of the system this year.

The failure began shortly before 14:00 local time (18:00 GMT), according to grid operator UNE, which linked it to a transmission fault that struck as bad weather moved through central Cuba. By late evening, crews had returned electricity to a handful of priority sites in the capital, Havana, among them zones close to hospitals and water pumping stations.

Felix Estrada, who directs UNE's national load dispatch centre, said the operator had switched on its protocols for a "gradual restoration" of supply. That work was still running on Saturday, leaving many households facing a second day in the dark.

Cuba imports most of the fuel it burns to generate electricity, and the country's plants already run on decades-old equipment. Those weaknesses have collided this year with a United States blockade on oil deliveries to the communist-run government, which has choked supplies further. The knock-on effects reach well beyond the power grid: food and medicine have grown harder to find, hospitals cannot operate at full capacity, and schools and government offices have shut their doors.

Residents describe life between outages

For people in Havana, the collapse fits a pattern that has hardened over recent months. "Lately, it's becoming a habit," resident Frank Lorenzo told the Reuters news agency on Friday. He said the cuts used to arrive roughly once a month, but had grown far more frequent. "Just yesterday we were 24 hours without electricity, they turned it on for just an hour and it went down again."

Lidia Fernandez, a 36-year-old schoolteacher, told the AFP news agency that the shortages now overlap. "It's one thing after another: no water, no gas for cooking, no electricity," she said. "Honestly, I don't know how we haven't gone crazy."

Francisco Rodriguez, 78, said his home had already spent 28 hours without power on Friday and worried the darkness could stretch on "for several days."

The repeated failures have driven Cubans into the streets in protests that remain unusual on the island. Demonstrations held without official permission are against the law, and those who ignore the ban face the threat of prison.

Washington and Havana trade blame

The Cuban government pins the crisis on the administration of US President Donald Trump and rejects the full slate of sanctions imposed on it, including a fresh package announced in August. Havana casts the measures as one piece of a broader campaign aimed at pressuring the country's leadership.

Cuba had leaned on its regional ally Venezuela for relief. Caracas was thought to be supplying around 35,000 barrels of oil a day, roughly half of what the island needs, until that flow stopped. Venezuela's own exports were cut off after the United States seized its president, Nicolás Maduro, in January.

Trump has warned that countries sending oil to Havana could face tariffs, and US authorities have intercepted a number of shipments bound for the island. Washington rejects the argument that its policies are the root cause, instead blaming what it calls poor management inside Cuba and describing the country as a "national security threat." Trump has spoken openly about removing Cuba's government, floating the idea of a "friendly takeover" in March.

Cuba blackout, Cuba power outage, UNE grid Cuba, US oil blockade Cuba, Havana electricity, Cuba fuel shortage, Cuba sanctions, Venezuela oil Cuba

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