Havana Calls for Power Cuts as Fuel Shortage, Lagging Economic Recovery Push Cuba to Conserve Energy

Cuban authorities are looking to cut back on energy use as the West’s new blockade on Russia makes importing food and fuel even pricier for the long-embargoed island nation.

Officials in Havana announced Friday power cuts lasting four hours will be instituted every three days as part of an ambitious plan aimed at conserving 100 megawatts and helping ease the energy shortage currently hitting other regions of Cuba.

Cuban outlet Tribuna de La Habana reports the development marks the first time Havana residents will be affected by power cuts that have plagued the rest of the island for several months due to fuel shortages, which have been exacerbated by the recently intensified US blockade.

Havana’s Plenary Economic Session also announced the city would be foregoing the usual Carnival celebrations this year, but that parties would still be held on the city’s famous oceanside Malecón from the 26th to 28th of August.

At the meeting, a number of measures aimed at shoring up Cuba’s economic recovery were evaluated, Tribuna de La Habana reports:

“Identifying [possibilities] to increase income in foreign currency and implement the corresponding actions, promote national, industrial and agricultural production, implement a program for the gradual reduction of the budget deficit and achieve financial balance, and another program for the collection of income in the territories; resize state companies, optimizing their operations; and improve the identification, selection and prioritized attention to vulnerable individuals, families, households and communities.”

While Cubans have had to endure increasing difficulties as Western sanctions on Russian fuel and fertilizer continue to aggravate the global inflation surge, there are signs Cuba may have turned the corner. Last week, Economy Minister Gil Fernandez announced that gross domestic product had grown 10.9% in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the same period last year. Inflation, which hit 77% last year, has since returned to 28%.

However, Fernandez cautioned “we still have a contraction in foreign exchange earnings,” adding that their goal of returning “as quickly as possible” to 2019 exports levels “does not depend only on us, but also on the international context."