The Government of Cuba has decided to maintain Daylight Saving Time until November 2027, due to the energy crisis the country has been facing for two years and which has resulted in daily blackouts exceeding 20 hours.
“It was decided to maintain daylight saving time in the country until November 7, 2027, the date on which the change would occur in the following year,” said a joint official note from the Ministry of Energy and Mines and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, released on Saturday.
According to the official note, the measure is directly linked to the “hardening of the blockade and, in particular, to the energy siege imposed by the United States government” (…), which “causes the shortage of fuels for electricity generation.”
Thus, “an increase of these blackouts, estimated at 126 megawatts (MW), during the afternoon period, when electricity demand is at its peak,” will be avoided, detailed the text.
The document also notes that of this total, “76 MW correspond to the savings obtained from not using artificial lighting, and 50 MW to the generation of solar photovoltaic energy during this period.”
The official note stresses that, with the aim of “not harming social activities in the early hours of the day, the entry times at schools and workplaces will be delayed by 30 minutes, from November 1, 2026 to March 14, 2027.”
Additionally, “in entities that operate continuously, entry and exit times may also be adjusted, according to the characteristics of the activities and processes carried out there.”
Cuba announced on October 12 a reform of the oil and gas sector, authorizing concessions for foreign investors and an opening to local private actors, within the framework of liberalising its economy.
The United States has imposed since January an oil embargo against the communist island, which has aggravated the economic and energy crisis that has shaken the country with a population of 9.4 million inhabitants.
Several state-owned companies and leaders in the oil sector were recently sanctioned by Washington as well.
Cuba produces 40% of the oil it consumes, production essentially destined for the operation of seven aging power plants that form the backbone of its electrical grid.
Washington only authorizes the shipment of fuel from the United States to the new Cuban private sector. But these purchases, authorized since February, account for only 3% of the country’s needs, according to authorities.
According to official figures, more than 15,000 small and medium-sized enterprises are currently operating in Cuba and employ more than a third of the active population.
The American president Donald Trump regards the communist island, located 150 kilometres off the coast of Florida, as “an extraordinary threat” to the national security of the United States. Trump has warned several times that he could “take control” of that country.
