Residents of Ceiba Mocha Endure a Week Without Power Amidst Electric Company Silence

Inhabitants of Guiteras Street, nestled between Aguilera and Maceo in the community of Ceiba Mocha, Matanzas province, have been grappling with a week-long power outage. This situation, marked by either a total lack of electricity or dangerously low voltage, stems from a transformer malfunction that the Electric Company has yet to address, as reported on Facebook this past Saturday.

The trouble began on Saturday, June 6, when the power returned but left several homes without electricity and others with critically low voltage levels. This disruption spans an area of approximately three blocks within the community.

Community Frustration with Electric Company Delays

Immediately after the issue arose, residents contacted the Electric Company's Customer Service and were given report number 18351. However, a week later, the problem remains unresolved.

“As of 8:15 AM on June 13, Customer Service indicated that report 18351 was still pending a visit from a service vehicle,” reported Yuni Moliner, who authored the social media post.

Logistical Challenges and Widespread Power Issues

The delay, attributed to logistical hurdles, fails to justify the lack of action: Ceiba Mocha is situated roughly 20 kilometers from Matanzas city center. Residents point out that any connection or disconnection operation necessitates a vehicle from the Basic Electric Organization being dispatched from the municipal headquarters.

By June 12, Matanzas had a backlog of over 200 unresolved service requests, highlighting an overwhelmed response system. A senior figure from the Matanzas Electric Company described the province as the hardest hit in the nation, with circuits experiencing more than 40 consecutive hours of blackout.

Recurring Transformer Failures Across Cuba

The situation in Ceiba Mocha is not an anomaly. In Cantel, Cárdenas, residents endured more than a week without electricity following a transformer explosion at the Humberto Álvarez sugar mill. In Mayarí, Holguín, over 400 families spent 29 days in darkness until a 630 kVA transformer could be transported from Havana. On the same Saturday, Güines residents reported over a week without power after another transformer explosion, with three unsuccessful repair attempts.

Persistent lack of preventive maintenance, a shortage of spare parts, and frequent power cuts exacerbate the frequency and duration of such outages. "The absence of maintenance, difficulties in securing parts, and repeated power interruptions make these issues among the most common," Moliner cautioned in her post.

These events unfold amid Cuba's most severe energy crisis in decades. The nation has faced over 130 days of stringent fuel restrictions due to an oil blockade, and as of June 10, power generation capacity was a mere 960 MW against a peak demand of 2,595 MW, meeting only a third of the required amount.

As the Electric Company continues to amass unresolved reports, the residents of Ceiba Mocha remain in limbo, waiting for the arrival of a service vehicle that, according to customer service records, has not appeared for a week.