Cuba this week called on state and private companies to generate more electricity from renewable resources and limit the use of air conditioning, among other conservation measures, as the communist government faces its worst energy crisis in decades.
The new regulations, summarized in a 16-page decree published on Tuesday, give the largest energy consumers, both public and private, three years to install renewable energy sources.
These new sources must be capable of producing at least 50% of the electricity these companies consume during the day.
If an office building or factory cannot accommodate solar panels, companies will be forced to contract with the government for a portion of their capacity.
The decree also establishes a series of new conservation measures, including a rule that prohibits state and private companies on the Caribbean island from using “climate control units in non-technology offices, in temperatures below 24°C”.
The increasingly restrictive measures occur at a time when the network
Multiple blackouts everywhere
Rolling blackouts persist across the country as Cuba struggles to obtain fuel and the spare parts it needs to generate enough electricity to meet demand.
The government blames US sanctions and a growing economic crisis for the increasingly tense situation.
The decree also establishes protocols for a contingency plan in emergency situations in which it is “necessary to affect the electrical service in a planned and sustained manner for more than 72 hours”.
In these cases, companies would be forced to turn off refrigerators, industrial ovens and irrigation pumps during
The decree devotes several pages to describing the application of the new rules, including cutting electricity for companies that do not comply with the new standards, as well as fines of up to 15,000 pesos or more, depending on the infraction.
