Cuba plunged into darkness as electrical grid suffers fresh collapse

Havana, Cuba CNN - Cuba’s energy grid has collapsed, leaving millions without power, the latest in a series of failures on an island struggling from creaking infrastructure, natural disasters and economic turmoil.

The state-run utility company, the Cuban Electric Union, said workers were attempting to get the grid back online but local officials warned residents the difficult process of restoring power to aging Soviet-era power stations could take days.

Cuba’s top energy producer, the Antonio Guiteras power plant in Matanzas, suffered an overnight failure, prompting the grid’s collapse on Wednesday, the company said.

The government has ordered the “suspension of work and teaching activities,” Cuba’s Minister of Labor and Social Security, Marta Elena Feito said.

“This measure will remain in place for the duration of the crisis. Vital services will continue to function and there will be no salary impact,” state media quoted her as saying.

For nearly a week in October most of Cuba suffered near-total blackouts, the worst energy outages in decades.

The island’s government blames US economic sanctions for the ongoing crisis on the island although critics also fault a lack of government investment in infrastructure.

Cuba’s energy and mines ministry said “conditions are more favorable now than in the last disconnection” and that the system was gradually being restored.