Cuba woke up this Tuesday plunged into energy chaos due to the sixth total collapse of the National Electrical System (SEN) in 2026.
On the morning of August 4th, the Electric Union (UNE) published on its social media the first updates regarding the progress of the reconnection.
The state-owned company reported that the system is already interconnected across a range extending from the western tip to the central-eastern region of the country.
"The system is now interconnected from Pinar del Río to Holguín. Work continues to achieve the integration of the provinces of Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo, and Granma,” the UNE stated succinctly.
The UNE also reported that at 8:22 a.m. (local time) the Unit 6 of the CTE Diez de Octubre came online, increasing load.
However, the gap between official announcements and the reality experienced by millions of Cubans is evident in the comments on those publications.
The voice of Cubans: Between 40 and 72 hours without electricity
The comments on the UNE's posts painted a picture of the disaster that official data does not reflect.
“In Consolación del Sur, we have been without power for three days; the situation is very difficult for children and sick individuals,” wrote a citizen.
In Bauta, Artemisa, neighbors reported that they had been without electricity for 72 hours and described the situation as "shameful."
In Güines, Mayabeque, the blackout lasted 66 hours and also led to a lack of water.
In Cifuentes, Villa Clara, almost 72 hours; in the Tejas neighborhood, San Miguel del Padrón, 52 hours; in Minas, Camagüey, more than 48 hours.
The perception of territorial inequality was another axis of discontent.
"Guantánamo, as always, among the last to receive the service," wrote a user.
Another asked ironically, "Did they connect Pinar del Río with Holguín without going through the other provinces?"
A phrase summed up the widespread skepticism: “The system is connected, but the electrons aren’t flowing.”
The crisis also impacts telecommunications: ETECSA reported malfunctions in its generator affecting numbers with prefixes 52, 509, 598, and 599.
How did the sixth collapse occur?
The collapse occurred in two phases. On Sunday, August 2, at 10:43 PM, the UNE confirmed a total disconnection from the SEN, marking the sixth nationwide blackout of the year.
The recovery had barely begun when a frequency oscillation brought the system down again this Monday, marking the sixth collapse of 2026.
At that moment, Havana had only restored 14% of its supply: 87,480 customers, 78.51 MW, 12 substations, and 29 energized circuits, prioritizing 19 hospitals and two water pumps.
The UNE attributed this second decline to climate factors: “The existing weather events have caused disruptions in the network, directly impacting the generating units that were online.”
The Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, the largest in the country, located in Matanzas, had begun a cold start at 10:17 on Monday with expectations of synchronizing with the national electric system later that evening, but the new collapse thwarted those plans.
The plant has accumulated about twenty unscheduled outages in 2026 and has not received capital maintenance since 2010.
Seven collapses in eight months
Cuba accumulates in 2026 seven total collapses of the SEN: two in March (16 and 21), three in July (6, 10, and 14), and two in August (3 and 4).
This chain of collapses occurs over an electrically structural system that is deteriorated, featuring obsolete plants, chronic fuel shortages, and a lack of investment in maintenance, which is a direct consequence of decades of poor management by the Cuban regime.
While the UNE works to incorporate the provinces of Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo, and Granma into the SEN, millions of Cubans wait with uncertainty about when electricity will return to their homes.
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