Cuba’s Energy Collapse Forces Residents to Cook with Charcoal

Cuba’s worsening energy crisis, reported by local outlets and X posts, pushes citizens like María Elena Veiga to cook with charcoal.

The 60-year-old housewife from San Nicolás de Bari, 60 kilometers northwest of Havana, faces daily blackouts lasting over 20 hours. With electricity scarce and gas nearly unavailable, she relies on charcoal fires, a necessity shared by millions across the island’s 10 million residents.

The nation’s power grid crumbles as only a few of its seven oil-fired thermoelectric plants function, producing 15,331 gigawatt-hours in 2023. Losses swallow 3,716 gigawatt-hours, while peak demand hits 3,000 megawatts, unmet since deficits soared to 1,900 megawatts in early 2025.

The Antonio Guiteras plant’s recent failure during testing on February 7 worsens the strain, leaving 57% of Cuba without power at times. Fuel shortages cripple smaller diesel generators, forcing the government to close schools for two days last week and send non-essential workers home.

Cuba blames the U.S. embargo for blocking fuel and spare parts, though critics highlight decades of neglected infrastructure. The economy reels from Trump-era sanctions, the pandemic, and a focus on luxury hotels over power plants.

Cuba’s Energy Crisis Deepens

Charcoal now costs 2,000 pesos per sack—a month’s salary for many—as families queue for gas or scavenge wood. Mirella Martínez, 72, cooks beans on a small charcoal stove, enduring entire days without electricity.

The crisis echoes 2021 protests over shortages, hinting at brewing unrest amid falling wages and a thriving black market. Last year’s grid collapses left the nation dark, and today’s outages disrupt businesses, schools, and hospitals, threatening economic stability.

Cuba’s thermoelectric plants break down faster than workers repair them, with high-sulfur oil clogging systems designed for better fuel. The government scrambles, but solutions remain elusive as citizens adapt to a dim reality.

This energy collapse reveals deeper woes: an embargo, yes, but also a system unprepared for modern demands. Businesses watch closely as Cuba’s 10 million people, once promised prosperity after 1959, now cook over open flames. The figures—1,900-megawatt deficits, 20-hour blackouts—tell a story of resilience tested and a nation on the edge.

More: Cuba news in English, every day from The Rio Times.

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