The official account on X of the Antonio Guiteras Contingent (@CteGuiteras), associated with Cuba's largest thermoelectric power plant, published an emotional message this Tuesday urging the public to be patient in light of the blackouts that are suffocating the country in the midst of summer.
"With our hearts in our hands. We know that the light takes time. That the heat is relentless. But we want you to know one truth: behind every blackout, there is an electrician who hasn’t slept, who hasn’t embraced their family. The energy situation is tough. It hurts," read the text, accompanied by the hashtag #ElectricWorkers.
In a response to the same thread, the account added: "But here, at each thermoelectric plant, there is an army that does not give up. Day after day, they put on their overalls and stand firm. It is not resignation. It is resistance. It is love for Cuba. We ask the people for understanding, but above all, trust. We will not let them down."
A third message described the reality of the workers: "While the public hears about the disconnection and reconnection of some of the thermal units of the SEN, the reality for workers at Cuba's thermal power plants is entirely different. Their days stretch on until exhaustion, and they spend sleepless nights."
The call for understanding comes at one of the worst moments for the Cuban electrical system. According to the informative note from the Electric Union published this Tuesday, the service was affected for a full 24 hours on Monday, with a maximum impact of 2,128 MW at 9:40 PM.
For this Tuesday, the state agency forecasted an impact of 2,150 MW, with only 1,080 MW available during peak hours against a projected demand of 3,200 MW, a gap that condemns millions of Cubans to spend the day without electricity.
Several thermal units remain out of service, including units 5 and 6 of the Máximo Gómez Thermoelectric Plant in Mariel, unit 2 of the Ernesto Guevara De La Serna Thermoelectric Plant in Santa Cruz, and unit 3 of the Antonio Maceo Thermoelectric Plant in Renté. In addition, 106 distributed generation plants are offline due to lack of fuel.
The Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, which gives its name to the contingent, has accumulated at least 17 unplanned outages so far in 2026 and has not received major maintenance since 2010. On July 18, the plant stayed connected to the system for only 26 minutes before failing again due to a leak in the boiler.
The plant director admitted in June that they do not have the necessary parts for a more extensive repair, which would require replacing about 500 tubes and executing between 1,000 and 1,200 welds, along with a shutdown of at least 180 days.
The message from the Guiteras Contingent follows the pattern of other official statements that have attempted to humanize the crisis without providing concrete solutions. The Minister of Energy, Vicente de la O Levy, declared on July 11 “no one gives up here” after the fourth total blackout of the year, and Prime Minister Manuel Marrero promised on July 15 to restore the system “in the shortest possible time” after the fifth collapse. All those promises were met with skepticism and irony by the population on social media.
The historic record deficit of the system was recorded on July 10 with 2,341 MW, and power outages average between 20 and 24 hours daily in Havana, while in Matanzas they have reached 87 consecutive hours without electricity.
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