Cuba sounds summer energy alarm, plans blackouts

Cubans are in for an especially hot summer under an energy saving plan that could shut off air conditioners at work and require Saturday-morning blackouts at home, according to an unpublished government directive obtained by The Associated Press.

The plan, signed by new Economics Minister Marino Murillo and circulating Tuesday among government offices and state companies, also calls for large-scale vacations for government workers but doesn’t say if they will be paid. The measures are necessary, it says, to conserve petroleum used to generate electricity during the Caribbean nation’s sweltering summer months
The directive says the government is alarmed by unexpected increases in petroleum use this year and the “exceptional measures” will take effect Monday. It says 40,000 extra metric tons of petroleum worth $100,000 were used during the first three months of the year to cover an unplanned 3 percent increase in electricity over what was projected for that period.

AP