If there is something missing right now in all of Cuba, it is a person indifferent to the country's energy situation, or what, in daily conversations, at home, at work and on the street, it is called "the blackouts."

In Ciego de Ávila, we wake up listening to Bernardo Espinosa's report, looking at Invasor or the programming table of the Electricity Company's Facebook profile and in an eternal “do you have power?”, “what time is it our turn today?” that little by little take over the trivial conversations and even the greeting.

That is why yesterday, when all of us (those who had power) tuned in to TV to see the appearance of Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, it did not surprise us that it began precisely there: how the current unites us and divides us in states of opinion.

From "the recognition of the effort of the workers of the electrical company". Even the discontent that “there is so much lack of control”, “the too many hours” and “the blackouts during the hours in which people prepare their food”. Going through the questioning of the continuous maintenance of thermoelectric plants: "It is not fair that there are so many and at the same time."

The situation, the president made clear, is serious. We depend, fundamentally, on two thermoelectric plants that, first, are old, and second, work with national crude oil, which makes them more prone to breakdowns.

"When one of the Felton or Guiteras units goes out due to breakdowns or maintenance, the system enters a state of instability and it takes a lot of work to cover these deficits with other alternative sources, which is the situation we have today."

Investment in new technologies has been ruled out, due to how monstrously expensive the investment in a thermoelectric plant can be, as well as being slow; it is an almost ruled out alternative. This does not imply that the country sits idly by, and resorts to mobile jerks.

“A business in which we rent the patana and immediately we have the generation. It is not an investment that takes time. There are patanas with 120 or 60 megawatts. These give us a generation capacity of around 300 megawatts”.

However, night comes, we go into the kitchens, we turn on the lights and fans, because the heat is already unbearable, and August has not yet arrived. Then, neither the thermoelectric plants, nor the swamps, nor the generator sets can cover a growing demand, dodging breakdowns.

"We have had to stop important activities in our economy because we have used fuel mainly for electricity generation and above all to meet the needs of the population." And it`s still not enough.

What can you expect? The only certainty is in his explanation. The main tactic in this war against the blackout is to fix what can solve the most problems for us. "A whole group of repairs and maintenance has been contracted that should lead us to stability in the coming months, including those that are closer these days."

Surely, that last one sounds like hope, now that we spent several hours in the dark. With the hand fan and the flashlight in hand we are longing for the Felton and the Guiteras to recover soon, that there is no lack of fuel, that the other units be repaired and until the rainy air of these last few days blows a little. Because July and August promise.