Unión Eléctrica de Cuba justifies price increases: "It is to reduce consumption"

The Electrical Union of Cuba justified this Wednesday the increase in the prices of service rates that the regime will impose as of March 1st and said it was "to reduce consumption."

In response to the main doubts of the population about the high rate, the UNE posted on Facebook that "the adjustment of the rate is with the objective of achieving a reduction in consumption in those customers with the highest monthly consumption."

He stated that the 25% increase in the price of kW/h will only apply to kW/h that are consumed monthly above 500kW/h.

These clarifications, in the midst of the popular discontent that the measure has generated, contained in a great economic package that includes the increase in the prices of fuel, water, gas and transportation.

According to the UNE "in the country there are 4 million 118 thousand residential clients on average and of them they consume more than 500kWh per month, 117 thousand, which does not reach 4% (this year in the summer it was around 217 thousand and in winter about the 45 thousand)".

However, some Cubans claim that the data is "distorted" and that "measures taken on distorted data will inevitably lead to more distortions. They will be distortions upon distortions," economist Alexánder Fernández said on Twitter.

The new rate will come into effect with consumption in March 2024, so the bill will reach customers in April.

It is stated that the same clients do not always have a consumption greater than 500kW/h. "This number varies depending on the more or less efficient use of home equipment," the note states.

The average consumption of a residential customer on the island according to the historical billing database of this sector is between 170 and 190 kW/h monthly; Therefore, clients whose consumption "is greater than 2 times the country average are evaluated as high consumers."

The increase in the amount of customers whose monthly consumption is 600, 700, 1000 or 1800 kWh/month, will behave as shown in the table, where a high consumer of 1800 kW/h could pay a monthly payment of up to 18 thousand Cuban pesos.

The regime's new package of measures has generated great discontent in a population marginalized by poverty, inflation and low access to food.