A fire in the perimeter area of the Santiago Este Substation forced an emergency shutdown of the electricity supply in four circuits of the city of Santiago de Cuba on Wednesday night, according to an official statement from the Electric Company.
The entity, under the Union Eléctrica (UNE), reported that the 12, 13, 15, and 16 circuits are out of service as a measure to protect the facilities and the personnel present in the area of the incident.
"We inform our customers that, due to a fire in the perimeter area of the Santiago Este Substation, it was necessary to urgently suspend electrical service in circuits 12, 13, 15, and 16 as a measure to ensure the safety of the facilities and the personnel working on-site," stated the company in a note published on Facebook.
Workers from the Electric Company and the Fire Department were working to control the fire and restore service "as soon as conditions allow," according to the same statement. No victims were reported, nor was the cause of the incident disclosed.
The incident comes at the worst possible time for the province. This Wednesday, the citizen blackout observatory had accumulated 907 reports in Santiago de Cuba, with outages lasting up to 24 hours.
Throughout the country, the National Electroenergy System (SEN) was operating with only 849 MW of available generation against a deficit of 1,830 MW. The UNE had forecasted an impact of 2,230 MW for the nighttime peak of the day, which would mean that up to 74% of the country would be without electricity simultaneously.
The fire at the Santiago Este Substation is part of a pattern of incidents in electrical infrastructure that has been recurring throughout 2026: on July 19, a fire at the Alquízar substation in Artemisa left nearly 7,000 people without service; and on June 16, another fire at the Caibarién substation in Villa Clara damaged the transformer and affected 15 districts.
In July, the SEN has suffered at least four total collapses, leaving approximately 9.6 million people without electricity each time.
On July 8, the largest energy deficit in the country's recent history was recorded: 2,341 MW, with 73% of the population affected at the same time.
In this context, the social unrest in Santiago de Cuba is explosive. Tonight, residents of the Sueño neighborhood —one of the most central areas of the city, with over 17,000 inhabitants— went out to bang pots in protest against the prolonged blackouts, as documented by independent journalist Yosmany Mayeta Labrada.
"Another night when the residents of the Sueño neighborhood take to the streets to bang pots and pans," she wrote. It’s not the first time: the neighborhood had already been the scene of pot banging protests in June and on several dates this month, including July 25th, the eve of the anniversary of the Moncada assault.
The wave of protests also spread to Havana, with focal points in Lawton, El Vedado, Guanabacoa, Centro Habana, and Old Havana, as the regime responded with arrests, police deployments, and internet blackouts in the areas of greatest unrest.
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