Distributed by The Cuba Free Press Project.

Havana, February 12, 1998, Cuba Free Press

HOW TO AVOID POWER BLACKOUTS. By Tania Quintero, Cuba Free Press.

A new program for conserving energy is being implemented in Cuba since February 1, 1998.

Millions of pamphlets, with 8 illustrated pages, printed in two colors, have been published by the Basic Industries Ministry and handed out by the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, free of charge, house to house. Some were reminded of the work of evangelization undertaken by the Catholic church for the Pope’s visit, and which, for the first time in more than 30 years, allowed for contact between religious people and the population.

This time around we are dealing with a very earthly concern: a series of tips for each family, each home to follow in order to prevent power shortages, saving electricity to the maximum. Even if the national media has broadcasted the same, the authors of the manual decided to repeat it once again: electricity is a very expensive service and generating it is costing the country a million dollars a day. In Cuba, electric power is generated at thermonuclear plants, aside from the use of petroleum. More than 95% of Cuban homes work with electricity and it is estimated that each family pays 11 pesos per month for a service which costs the state $8.50 to generate.

On the second and third pages of the small manual there’s a drawing that shows that the time of peak use is between 6 and 10 in the evening. These hours coincide with the turning on of electricity in the homes, as well as, in public areas. At 6 p.m. is when the programing begins in the only two television channels in Cuba, channel 2 and channel 6, both of then under strict government control. That is also the time for higher use for the refrigerator and other home appliances. Such is the time of greater activity in hotels and other public entertainment centers throughout the city.

According to their explanation, this higher usage during these hours forces them to put in-line all the thermoelectrical plants in the country, including the least efficient. As a result: consumption surpasses the ability to generate electricity and the result, for many years, has been the well-known power blackouts or programmed blackouts as they call them. Over several hours in the day or night, large areas within all the provinces are left in the dark, on a rotating basis. Sometimes the blackout happens once a week, for 2 or 3 hours, but oftentimes the frequency and length of the blackouts is greater because the old generators are plagued by breakdowns. As a solution, they are proposing to invest, from now till the year 2000, a sum of $300 million dollars in the modernization of the present thermoelectrical plants and in the construction of new ones. But for that it is necessary to reduce our present levels of consumption, particularly in the peak hours.

From pages 5 to 10, they give practical tips for saving electricity at home, putting special emphasis on lighting and the use of everyday appliances in Cuban homes: television sets, refrigerators, fans, and washers. They also alert the population on the excessive use of stoves, irons, air conditioners, and water pumps. At he Stores for the Recovery of Hard Currency, the so-called Shoppings or dollar stores, they have limited the sale on electric appliances such as the fryers, and rice cookers. Irons have disappeared from those stores for a long time and they can only be obtained by diplomats accredited in Cuba.

Other measures which contribute to saving light are also given, and they talk about also saving water and the proper use of mixers, audio and video equipment, and hair dryers. They also recommend for people to paint the walls in lighter tones and maintain the glass in the windows and doors clean; to avoid using curtains and use natural light to the maximum. They also ask that people not use what they call electrical clumps (extention cords) because they can, not only damage the installation, but also increase electric consumption.

All of these tips are directed primarily to the housewives, but they could also very well gear them to the tourist sector, where the waste of electricity is excessive, in contrast with the darkness reigning in the outskirts of these places. The women are told to save electricity while they cook, independently of the type of stove that they use for cooking. They advise, for example, to cover the pots to maintain the heat within and thereby reduce the amount of time spent in the kitchen, of course, whenever possible, use pressure cookers.

In the final pages of the pamphlet they emphasize the importance of being able to read the electric meter, whether digital or sphere. They teach you how to read both. In that way the person can keep track of the monthly use and apply the proper residential rate, which sets the price of 9 cents for the first 100 kws per hour; and 20 cents for use over 100 and up to 300; 30 cents for use over this amount.

They reserved the presentation of the saving lightbulb till the last page, labelled as the solution for Cuban families. They point out to 3 advantages: it gives more light (20wts equivalent to 100); lasts 10 times more and wastes 5 times less. They believe that with the use of a million of those lightbulbs in the homes that use it the most, they could reduce the number of blackouts by 1/3 and would prevent the need for construction for a thermoelectrical plant which would cost $50 million. This would prevent the let-off into the atmosphere of 250,000 tons of contaminating gas, a number which even if they don’t say it openly, must be let out into the atmosphere (white light and regular bulbs are used just as often in Cuba); both of which are scarce and can only be obtained at the dollar stores or with the national currency in the network of stores carrying industrial goods.

Each family would have the right to purchase two of these saving bulbs, which are fluorescent, at about 10 pesos each. After this pamphlet was distributed, the media informed that the sale of the saving lightbulbs would take place at the Ministry of Interior Commerce, within a maximum of 30 days at the the family receives the certificate of purchase issued by the Basic Electrical Organization office.