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A Cuban identified as Taniaglicet Hernandez Machado published an outraged complaint this week on Facebook against the Electric Company Riviera branch in Villa Clara, after receiving a bill for 3,673.80 Cuban pesos for June 2026, with a recorded consumption of 794 kWh.
"I'm wondering if someone with a bit of shame could explain to me how this expense is possible with so many hours of blackout," wrote the woman, who clarified that she has no private business to justify such a level of consumption: "I don't have a small business, I don't sell even a coffee."
The publication, directed specifically at the Villa Clara Electric Company, also warned that it had previously encountered similar issues with the same branch: "They left me alone once before, and it seems they are going to start again now."
The post sparked an avalanche of comments from Cubans across the country sharing identical experiences.
Users from the same Riviera branch warned the author not to fall into the trap of paying in hopes of receiving a discount the following month: "That's normal at that branch. It's happened to me several times [...] They push you to pay now, and next month your bill is much lower. Don't fall for that trap."
Another user from Santo Domingo, Villa Clara, revealed that the meter reader himself confessed that "the company inflated the consumption for almost all consumers," sometimes by up to three times the actual amount.
The invoices reported in the comments range between 350 and 18,000 pesos, in households that receive only one to four hours of electricity per day.
"I received 1,073 pesos and they put us through 60 hours of blackout with only one hour of electricity," reported a user from Cienfuegos. Another wrote: "No power and they billed me 8,248 pesos, what a disaster." A third summed up the paradox with irony: "With rounds of 24 hours of blackout and two hours of power, the bill just keeps growing. The magic."
The outrage was widespread: "This has become a trend. We pay more for 20 hours without power than for a whole day of electricity. The electric company or its workers are stealing in plain sight," wrote another internet user.
The case is not isolated. On June 2, Sisi Aguilera, a Cuban from Havana, reported bills of 20,000 and 16,000 pesos in two consecutive months without regular electric service.
The backdrop is an energy crisis that in June 2026 reached a deficit of 2,040 MW against a demand of 3,000 MW, with outages affecting 65-68% of the national electrical system and power cuts exceeding 20 hours a day in many areas.
This is in addition to the electricity rate effective from March 2024, which sets the rate at 12.31 Cuban pesos per kilowatt-hour for the range of 701 to 1,000 kWh per month, which is where the consumption recorded in the reported bill falls.
The Electric Company itself acknowledged in March 2026 that high bills may be due to reading errors or averages applied when access to the meter is not possible; however, this explanation does not satisfy a population that sees their bills rising while electricity is notably absent.
"They provide four days of electricity in the month, charge you for the entire month, and then increase the rates. It doesn't make sense, just like everything else," concluded a user, capturing the frustration of thousands of Cubans facing a service that charges more while delivering less.
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