A Cuban woman named Yuliet recorded the exact moment when the National Electric Power System (SEN) collapsed just as she had returned from the market with her groceries in hand, and shared it in a video posted on TikTok that starkly summarizes daily life in Cuba.
“The power went out again. This month, it has happened three times. What is going on? They cut the electricity for the entire country. The thermoelectric plants are shut down. There’s no power for days. And I just came back from doing some shopping,” says Yuliet in front of the camera, with a mix of resignation and humor.
The blackout on Tuesday was the fifth total collapse of the National Electric System in 2026 and the third in less than ten days: the system had also failed on July 6 and July 10. According to the Electric Union (UNE), the direct cause was the sudden outage of Unit 1 of the Felton thermoelectric plant in Holguín, which caused a sharp frequency oscillation and cascaded disconnections throughout the network, leaving 9.6 million inhabitants of the island without power.
Yuliet was showing one by one the products she had just bought: chickpeas, beans, root vegetables like pumpkin, malanga, and chili, potatoes, bacon, cans of ham and cheese, a variety of spices, and a La Guajira malt, a non-alcoholic beverage made in Artemisa. Her immediate concern was clear: what could be preserved without refrigeration?
"Fortunately, I didn't buy many refrigerated items; I bought just a few," she said, though the bacon and potatoes gave her pause. "Oh my God," she remarked as she showed the package of bacon.
What partially saved her was the intermittent supply in her area. "Here, the electricity comes on quite a bit, quite a bit. It's three out of six for the electricity. So it gives me a chance to make some beans," she explained, referring to the fact that in her neighborhood, electricity is available more often than in other parts of the country.
It's not the first time Yuliet has faced this situation. In the description of the video, she wrote: "So far this year, a lot has gone wrong for me."
The testimony of Yuliet illustrates one of the most direct and often overlooked damages of the energy crisis affecting Cuba: the massive loss of perishable food. With temperatures reaching up to 38°C and blackouts averaging between 20 and 24 hours daily, food becomes unsafe in just two hours without refrigeration.
On July 10, the largest energy deficit in the country's history was recorded: 2,341 MW, with only 935 MW available against a demand of 3,100 MW. Areas like Matanzas have accumulated up to 87 consecutive hours without electricity in July.
The regime's response has been minimal. President Miguel Díaz-Canel asked on July 9 to "better organize the blackouts," without announcing any concrete measures to increase generation. Citizens' desperation translated into 107 documented protests throughout the island in June. The SEN was restored on Wednesday at 07:00 hours, according to an official announcement from UNE, although scheduled outages continued immediately afterward.
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