Allegations of Fraud Against Havana's Electric Company Stir Public Outrage

A resident from Havana's Playa municipality has publicly accused the Electric Company of alleged billing irregularities, describing it as an effort to "institutionalize fraud and theft" against the public. The affected resident, Jonás Bourne Varona, shared in a video that since June, he has been receiving inflated electric bills that do not reflect his actual household consumption. Consequently, he claims to have filed monthly complaints with the state-run entity, but has yet to receive effective solutions.

"All I get from the officials are mere excuses," Bourne stated, accusing the company of persisting in demanding manipulated amounts, threatening to cut off electricity if payments aren't made. He recounted that his situation is not isolated. According to Bourne, he has met other customers at the company’s complaint desk facing the same issue: unjustified high rates and coercive payment demands.

Bourne, who is also an opponent of the Cuban regime, mentioned the constant police harassment he faces, suspecting that his activism may be influencing the lack of response to his grievances. "The police harass me every week, and I’m dealing with both repression and institutional abuse," he declared.

In addition to criticizing the billing discrepancies, Bourne expressed outrage over the poor service provided by the Electric Company amidst a national energy crisis marked by prolonged blackouts and insufficient investments in the system. His testimony was shared on social media by opposition figure Ángel Moya to highlight what Bourne claims is happening in Playa and other areas across the country.

His allegations add to the growing public dissatisfaction with the deterioration of public services in Cuba and the abuse of power by state institutions.

The Recurring Issue of Inflated Bills and Scams in Cuba

In recent months, complaints against the Electric Company and its service management have surged across Cuba, amid the country’s ongoing energy crisis. In February 2025, a Cuban woman known as @sheyreyes03 on TikTok reported being scammed, along with her sister and several neighbors, by the electricity collector in their community. Despite providing proof of payment, the electric company forced them to pay several bills again to avoid service disconnection. “We are not to blame for being scammed by that man,” she stated, pointing out the state institution's lack of accountability in the fraud.

That same month, another user in Manicaragua (Villa Clara) posted on social media a bill of 356 pesos with 25 cents, despite receiving only one hour of electricity every 24 hours due to ongoing outages. The affected resident, who only had a refrigerator, described the charge as "a true scam," illustrating the contradiction of paying high bills amidst frequent service interruptions.

These complaints are not new. In 2023, residents in Contramaestre (Santiago de Cuba) reported alleged Union Electric workers attempting to remove electric meters under the pretense of sending them to a "laboratory." The lack of official identification and absence of responses from the company aroused suspicions of fraud, prompting residents to alert others via social media.

These incidents demonstrate a pattern of irregularities: inflated charges, lack of transparency in billing, and ineffective management of citizen complaints. This is compounded by the national energy crisis, with daily deficits nearing 2,000 MW reported at the beginning of 2025, leading to prolonged blackouts across the island. Social media has become the primary outlet for these complaints, exposing not only the precarious state of Cuba's electric system but also the consumer vulnerability to fraud, abuse, and institutional malpractice.