The Cuban energy ministry reported a total disconnection of the nation's power grid on September 18, leaving roughly 9 million people without electricity. NetBlocks confirmed the outage through analysis of network data showing a decline in internet traffic across the island, corresponding to the power failure.

This incident is the seventh massive blackout in the country this year, occurring on a system that was already thousands of megawatts short of capacity before the crash. While government officials claim a US oil blockade since January squeezed fuel supplies, other reports attribute the recurring instability to years of plant decay and inadequate fuel storage.