The energy crisis affecting Cuba worsens on June 1 with a new report from the Electric Union (UNE), predicting disruptions of up to 1,590 megawatts (MW) during peak hours, confirming a situation of ongoing and widespread blackouts throughout the country.
This figure, one of the highest reported in recent weeks, coincides with a social context marked by the rejection of the recent rate hike by the Cuban Telecommunications Company (ETECSA), which increases public discontent.
According to the official report, interruptions in service were reported throughout the previous day, with a maximum impact of 1,530 MW recorded at 7:20 PM.
The situation persisted throughout the early morning hours of Saturday. For today, a maximum demand of 3,450 MW is anticipated, while only 1,930 MW is available, resulting in a critical deficit that will impact thousands of households.
The precariousness of the National Electric System (SEN) is due to both breakdowns and simultaneous maintenance at several key thermoelectric plants.
Units in Santa Cruz, Cienfuegos, Nuevitas, Felton, and Renté are out of service, while others are undergoing scheduled maintenance. Although there is an expectation for a unit in Nuevitas to come online with 90 MW, this will not be enough to prevent severe blackouts.
Despite the addition of 12 new solar parks, which had a maximum output of just 312 MW, the structural deficit of the national electrical system continues to remain unresolved. Cubans, who are already facing extensive power cuts, are now further impacted by the rising costs of internet access, driven by the new pricing scheme from ETECSA.
This combination of chronic blackouts and rising rates has generated growing public outrage, reflected in social media, student statements, and pronouncements from economists.
For many, the official narrative about "socialism" is contradicted by a reality where access to basic services becomes a luxury, while the State imposes regressive measures without citizen participation.
Is a dollarization of electricity rates imminent?
Amid this situation, many Cubans wonder if the next step for the regime will be to dollarize electricity tariffs, as has already happened with mobile phone services.
On social media, users and analysts have started to speculate about this possibility, which would have a devastating impact on sectors that do not receive remittances or do not have access to foreign currency.
ETECSA justified its rate hike by claiming that “there is an external market willing to pay”, clearly pointing to the diaspora as a source of funding for the state model.
The UNE, like ETECSA, is also a monopolistic company controlled by the military conglomerate GAESA and could follow the same logic of “financial sustainability” to address its critical lack of generation, supplies, and maintenance.
This orientation reveals a profound transformation of the Cuban model: from a socialism of discourse to an economy controlled by a new oligarchy, where state-owned enterprises operate as profit-driven corporations, without competition, without citizen oversight, and without transparency.
The partial or total dollarization of electrical services would not only represent an economic change but also a new phase of social exclusion: a two-speed system where only those with access to dollars can maintain a minimum quality of life.
If realized, it would confirm that the regime is no longer seeking to redistribute income, but rather to collect foreign currency at the expense of national impoverishment, consolidating a privileged elite under the control of political and military power.
For most Cubans, the blackout and digital disconnection only exacerbate the sense of abandonment, inequality, and powerlessness in the face of a State that has long stopped protecting them and now serves the interests of the ruling elite.
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