Lisa Glidden, professor and director of global & international studies at the State University of New York at Oswego: “Cuba’s electricity grid faces supply and distribution problems. On the supply issue, demand often outpaces supply, especially at peak hours. This does not bode well for the hotter summer months as demand increases. Cuba still relies heavily on fossil fuels to run its power stations. There is not enough domestic supply, and Cuba’s ability to import oil is challenged by U.S. sanctions and a shortage of hard currency. Three new photovoltaic (solar) parks have come online and provide electricity to the grid—more than 300 megawatts daily for the last few days—but they still fall short of meeting demand. On the distribution side, Cuba’s national electricity grid greatly needs investment, replacement parts and updating. While Cuba’s microgrids were able to restart after the most recent blackout, at the national level, the power outages were in part due to some power stations being ‘in breakdown’ and others being out of service for maintenance, according to…”