Cuban government increases the electricity bill by 25% for consumers of more than 500 kWh

The Cuban government announced this Mondaya 25% increase in the electricity bill of those customers who consume more than 500 kilowatt/hour (kWh),and justified the decision as a measure “aimed at savings”.

The increase in the price of electricity for the so-called “large consumers” will come into force from March 1, 2024 (to be paid in April) and, according to the Minister of Energy and Mines,Vicente de la O Levy, will affect 2.7 percent of Cuban consumers.

“We have proposed increasing the electricity rate by 25% for those consumers who are above 500 kWh… Last year, which was characterized by consumption much higher than previous years, 107,570 customers had consumption above 500 kWh, 2.7% of the total,” said De la O Levy in theRound table.

The residential sector in Cuba is made up of 4,078,909 clients, explained the minister. The average consumption of this total is 174 kWh; but, according to De la O Levy, in the months of July and August the percentage of homes that consume more than 500 kWh rises, up to 5.4% of the country's total customers (about 217,000 homes).

“It is not to harm anyone, we know that we have reserves to achieve savings in our homes. [We know] that, without reducing the standard of living, we can manage to adjust to 500 kWh, or be very close to it. There are clients who in July and August exceed 500 kWh, but then in the rest of the year they do not,” the minister stressed.

According to De la O Levy, a consumer who spends 600 kWh per month today with current prices has to pay 2,451 pesos. With the new rate, the bill would rise to 2,681 pesos. That is, the 25% price increase is applied to kWh that are above 500.

If the customer consumes 700 kWh, today they would pay 3,396 pesos. With the rate that will be applied starting in March, this client's bill would rise to 3,862 pesos. A current consumer of 1,800 kWh would pay from the current 14,901 CUP to 18,355 Cuban pesos.

The measure, the minister repeated on several occasions, is not intended to collect revenue, but is intended to promote savings in the residential sector, which represents 61% of electricity consumption in the country. Likewise, he insisted thatThe measure does not eliminate electricity subsidies.

“The electricity rate will continue to be subsidized, even with the increases in these new rates above 500 kWh. The electricity rate continues to be subsidized... there is the cost of fuel, maintenance of power plants, electronic groups, networks, substations," he stressed.

At the end of December, the Cuban regimereported that it would increase the electricity rate by 25 percent to Cuban homes classified as high energy consumers.

"We cannot continue subsidizing the waste in terms of electricity consumption and we are going to increase electricity rates for the residential sector by 25 percent," said the Cuban prime minister.Manuel Marrero Cruz, when speaking in the Second Ordinary Period of Sessions of the National Assembly of People's Power, in its X Legislature.

The increase in the electricity rate for “large consumers”It is part of the context of the controversial package of economic measures announced by the Cuban regime to “correct distortions and re-boost the economy,” and which includes increases in the prices of fuel, water, and gas, among others. Increases that will end up having an impact on the prices of services and goods, including many essential needs for Cubans.