The Electric Company of Havana published on its Facebook page this Tuesday a campaign featuring infographics and audio warning that plugging in all electrical appliances at once when the power returns is "a very common mistake that can have serious consequences for you and your community."
According to the state entity, the consequences of this practice are threefold: damage to the electronic boards of televisions, refrigerators, and air conditioners due to voltage fluctuations; overload of the neighborhood transformers; and the risk of causing a new blackout throughout the neighborhood.
To avoid this, the company recommends keeping the equipment unplugged during the outage, waiting between three and five minutes after the service is restored, and connecting the devices one by one, starting with the low-consumption ones—lamps and fans—and leaving the high-consumption ones such as refrigerators, air conditioners, and washing machines for last.
The post sparked a flood of comments that mostly label it as a mockery, a meme, and a joke in poor taste.
The reactions reflect a deep discontent over the disconnect between the official recommendation and everyday reality. "If it’s on for 10 minutes, how much do I give to the refrigerator, five?" questioned a user, while others insisted that the service time makes any protocol unfeasible: "If we wait 3 or 5 minutes, the blackout catches us" or "in 40 minutes, we have to do everything: cook, wash, charge, and cool something." For many, the issue is not technical but structural: the limited time with electricity forces urgent action.
The predominant tone oscillates between irony and frustration. "By the time I'm done with the last one, they’ve already taken it away," summarizes one of the most repeated sentiments, alongside others like "when you're on the third one, the power goes out again." There are also direct critiques of the management of the electrical system, particularly the "stir-and-remove" policy, which users believe is more harmful than the simultaneous reconnection of equipment. "You have to be cynical to create a problem and then blame the population for mishandling the equipment," a commentator lamented.
The contradiction pointed out by the people of Havana is striking: the advice presupposes a supply of electricity that often doesn’t even exist. In Havana, power outages exceed 20 hours a day, and when the electricity does return, it lasts between 30 minutes and three hours, with frequent interruptions that hinder even the completion of the staggered reconnection process.
"We appreciate the recommendation. However, the message omits a key detail: the time deficit. When a block has only three hours of service per day, the population is forced to connect as much as possible within that timeframe to cook, wash, and preserve food," wrote a user.
Another comment accurately summarized the paradox: "If I connect them one by one, by the time I reach the third device, the power goes out, and then I have to wait 18 to 24 hours or more for it to come back."
Several users also pointed out that the company's own "on and off" practice—brief and repeated interruptions during the service period—damages the equipment as much, if not more, than simultaneous reconnection. "It's not advisable to turn off the power for 30 hours, then turn it back on, and 15 minutes later turn it off again," criticized an internet user, who directly blamed the company for the overload.
A user reported that her refrigerator broke down despite having a voltage regulator, a victim of those interruptions, and asked without receiving an answer: "Who pays for that?"
The background of the publication is the worst electrical crisis in recent Cuban history: as of Tuesday, the deficit is around 2,080 MW during peak hours, with a mere availability of 1,100 MW against a demand of 3,150 MW. On June 25, an absolute historical record was set: 2,208 MW deficit. The Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric power plant, the largest in the country, has experienced 16 disconnections so far in 2026, and more than 1,300 protests erupted in May, the highest number since July 11, 2021.
This is not the first time the company has issued this type of recommendation: in September 2025, after a national blackout, the Cuban government had already asked the population to wait before reconnecting equipment, met with the same disbelief and frustration. "The only thing that prevents another blackout is for them to leave," summarized a user in this week's comment thread.
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