HAVANA — In what officials are describing as “a bold systems reset,” Cuba this week addressed its spiralling energy crisis by switching the entire country off and waiting a few minutes to see if that helped.
Reader, it did not.
Government engineers confirmed the island had suffered a “complete disconnection” of the national electrical system — which, in plain English, means everything stopped working simultaneously, including the televisions broadcasting the government’s very calm explanation of why everything had stopped working simultaneously.
A senior technician reportedly asked, “Have we tried turning the country off and on again?” — a troubleshooting method previously reserved for malfunctioning inkjet printers and the laptops of elderly aunts who are convinced the internet lives inside a specific button.
It was, for what it’s worth, the third major nationwide blackout in four months. At this point Cuba’s power grid isn’t failing so much as maintaining a very consistent policy of darkness, like a Victorian drawing room but less candlelit and rather more chaotic.
The Grid That Personally Remembers the Cold War
Cuba’s power infrastructure, described by academics as “critically aged” and by residents as “absolutely bloody haunted,” has been held together by optimism, gaffer tape, and thermoelectric plants whose warranties expired sometime around the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Officials maintain the system is perfectly adequate.
“We have solar, gas, and thermoelectric capacity,” one spokesperson announced, with the confidence of a man who has just remembered he left the oven on. Then, sotto voce: “And candles. Tremendous candles. We have a candle arrangement.”
William LeoGrande, a professor at American University who has spent years cataloguing Cuba’s electrical misfortunes, described the technicians keeping the grid operational as “magicians.” Which rather suggests the energy ministry’s next capital expenditure should include a budget line for wands.
Cuba’s thermoelectric plants require approximately 100,000 barrels of oil per day to meet demand. Domestic production covers roughly 40 per cent of that. The remaining 60 per cent was previously supplied by Venezuela, which is currently experiencing its own difficulties — namely, having its president arrested by the United States, which is the sort of thing that tends to complicate a trade relationship.
Life Without Electricity: A Return to the Blitz Spirit, But Warmer
For Cuba’s 11 million residents, the blackout offered an unexpected opportunity to reconnect with nature, one’s neighbours, and the profoundly unsettling sound of one’s own thoughts without a fan running.
Citizens were observed engaging in time-honoured activities including:
- Sitting in the dark
- Sweating in a philosophical manner
- Debating whether the refrigerator constitutes “cold storage” or has simply become an expensive ornamental box
- Explaining to children that this is not, in fact, camping
In Havana, approximately 5 per cent of residents regained electricity by the following evening, triggering scenes of jubilation not unlike a British street party, except with functioning extension leads instead of bunting.
One resident, 71-year-old Mercedes Velazquez, captured the mood with understated precision. She had recently given away a soup she’d made while it was still edible, so as not to waste it. “Everything goes bad,” she said. Including, one assumes, the soup, the infrastructure, and the five-year energy plan.
Government Announces Ambitious New Strategy: Positive Energy
Faced with an ageing grid, a chronic fuel deficit, and the dawning realisation that hope is not, technically, a fuel source, the Cuban government has unveiled a forward-thinking energy strategy focused on what officials term “positive energy.”
“We are transitioning away from fossil fuels,” one minister explained, with the serenity of a man who has made peace with the darkness. “And towards optimism.”
The plan reportedly includes:
- Encouraging citizens to visualise electricity
- Replacing power stations with motivational addresses from senior officials
- Requesting that visiting tourists bring adaptors, extension leads, and perhaps a small generator
- 52 new photovoltaic solar parks, which produced 732 megawatts at peak hours and still did not prevent a complete grid collapse, a discrepancy the energy ministry is understood to be “looking into”
Renewables currently account for fewer than five per cent of Cuba’s electricity mix, meaning the journey from “no lights whatsoever” to “some lights, occasionally” remains long, winding, and currently unlit.
The Oil Situation, Briefly Explained
Cuba has not received an oil shipment in over three months. This is, experts note, a significant complication for a nation whose power grid runs on oil.
“It’s rather like trying to run a chip shop without fat,” observed one analyst. “Eventually you’re just a shop.”
President Trump, who in January threatened tariffs against any country selling oil to Cuba, suggested on Monday that he expects to have the “honour of taking Cuba,” though he did not specify whether this honour includes liability for the electrical grid, which seems the less coveted portion of any friendly acquisition.
Canada, for its part, announced $8 million in humanitarian aid with great sincerity, which is exactly the sort of thing Canada does, and everyone appreciates, and which will not, in the near term, keep the lights on.
Geopolitical analysts note that any lasting solution will require the involvement of at least three countries, four competing interests, one strongly worded communiqué, and a Canadian follow-up email checking whether the strongly worded communiqué was received.
Public Reaction: Frustrated, Perspiring, Resigned
Citizens have responded with the particular combination of fury and fatalism that characterises a people who have been through this before and fully expect to go through it again.
Protests have erupted across the island. In the city of Morón — and yes, that is its actual name, and yes, one recognises the irony requires no embellishment — demonstrators threw rocks and set fire to the local Communist Party office, which had survived decades of slower-burning catastrophes and apparently drew the line at this one.
One Havana resident offered the definitive assessment: “At this point, if the lights come back on, I might not trust them.”
Officials remain quietly confident that citizens will in time “adjust to darkness as a lifestyle,” a phrase which is either a governing philosophy, a mental health crisis, or the working title of a BBC Four documentary.
What the Comedians Are Saying
“Cuba’s had three nationwide blackouts in four months. At this point the grid isn’t broken — it’s just got a very firm policy.” — Jimmy Carr
“I don’t mind a power cut. But when the fridge stops working, now you’re negotiating with yoghurt.” — Lee Mack
“The government says it’s America’s fault. America says it’s Cuba’s fault. The yoghurt is not taking sides but it is taking a turn for the worse.” — Romesh Ranganathan
“Cuba’s been running on candles and spite for sixty years. If spite were a fuel source, they’d be energy-independent by Tuesday.” — Frankie Boyle
A Luminous Future (Subject to Availability)
Despite everything, officials remain hopeful. Plans are under way to restart the grid, modernise infrastructure, and if at all possible, locate some electricity.
Until then, Cuba continues its unsolicited experiment in minimalist living, where the lights are resolutely off but the irony burns bright, constant, and entirely free of charge.
And should all else fail, there is always Plan B.
Everyone clap at the same time and see if that generates something.
Cuba suffered its third major nationwide blackout in four months on 16 March 2026, after the complete collapse of its national electrical grid left all 11 million residents without power. President Miguel Díaz-Canel has attributed the crisis to a US energy blockade, triggered by President Trump’s January threat of tariffs against any country selling oil to Cuba, which effectively halted shipments from Venezuela and Russia. The island’s ageing thermoelectric plants require approximately 100,000 barrels of oil daily to function; Cuba produces less than half that domestically. The International Energy Agency notes that renewables account for fewer than five per cent of Cuba’s energy mix. Protests have broken out in multiple cities, including Morón, where demonstrators set fire to a Communist Party office. Cuba and the United States have reportedly begun diplomatic talks, while Trump has floated the notion of a “friendly takeover” of the island, details pending.
Auf Wiedersehen, amigo!
Alan Nafzger was born in Lubbock, Texas, the son Swiss immigrants. He grew up on a dairy in Windthorst, north central Texas. He earned degrees from Midwestern State University (B.A. 1985) and Texas State University (M.A. 1987). University College Dublin (Ph.D. 1991). Dr. Nafzger has entertained and educated young people in Texas colleges for 37 years. Nafzger is best known for his dark novels and experimental screenwriting. His best know scripts to date are Lenin’s Body, produced in Russia by A-Media and Sea and Sky produced in The Philippines in the Tagalog language. In 1986, Nafzger wrote the iconic feminist western novel, Gina of Quitaque. He currently lives in Holloway, North London. Contact: [email protected]
This is documentation of how we actually live now and what we’ve collectively accepted as normal. That’s the horror of it.
The thing about London satire is it has to be better than reality or it disappears. This is loud and clear.