14ymedio, Havana, 9 January 2024 — According to the Government, electricity and fuel will cost Cubans 25% more beginning March 1, when a new tariff, designed to “correct distortions” in the state budget, becomes effective. The price increase will affect those who use more than 500 kilowatts per hour (kWh) of electricity and all those who receive propane tanks, who will pay 225 pesos, 45 more than the current 180.
During their appearance this Monday on the television program Mesa Redonda, the ministers of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, and of Finance and Prices, Vladimir Regueiro Ale, alleged that their goal is not to ruin the pockets of Cubans but to find a “fair” system to penalize “those who use the most” and, by the way, to revive the state coffers.
In practice, fuel will rise in price in March, but the increased charge for electricity will not be until the beginning of April.
In the case of propane, the ministers admitted that the argument of “saving” does not explain the increase in the price to the 1,700,000 customers who receive it today, but that in any case the additional cost will contribute to “eliminating the subsidy on imports” and transfer it to points of sale throughout the country.
In the case of propane, the ministers admitted that the argument of “savings” does not explain the increase in price to the 1,700,000 customers who receive it today
De la O Levy insisted that for several years they have been studying how to make the “high consumers” pay more, which in 2023 were 107,570 customers of the 4,078,909 that make up the residential sector. The senior official tried to reassure viewers with a fact: only 2.7% of the members of this sector consume more than 500 kWh on a regular basis, although in July and August the figure “increases to 217,000 customers,” 5.4% of consumers.
The non-residential sector – 39% of the country’s consumers, according to the minister – is easier to control. “We have put up with it,” he celebrated, alluding to the constant inspections
