Havana/“Notify the neighbors so that everyone finds out in a timely manner.” With that warning, a new table of prices for manufactured gas – for cooking – has been circulating since this weekend through several WhatsApp groups in Havana, which practically doubles the current rate and considerably raises the bill of customers who do not have a meter.
According to the message, the cubic meter will cost 4.97 pesos, compared to the 2.50 established since January 2021. A household that consumes 30 cubic meters per month, for example, will stop paying 75 pesos and will have to pay 149.10.
The increase is equivalent to 98.8%, but the blow will be greater for the so-called non-metered customers, whose bill does not depend on actual consumption, but on a number of cubic meters assigned according to the number of residents in the home.
The table released establishes a monthly payment of 99.40 pesos for groups of one or two people, corresponding to 20 cubic meters. Households with between three and five residents must pay 298.20 pesos for 60 cubic meters, while homes with six or more people will be assigned 80 cubic meters and a bill of 397.60 pesos.
The informal document also sets the cut-off and reconnection service at 370 pesos, well above the 50 pesos established in the regulations approved during the Ordering Task.
The increase is equivalent to 98.8%, but the blow will be greater for the so-called unpaid customers
Until this Saturday, neither the Manufactured Gas Company, nor the Cuba-Petroleum Union, nor the Ministry of Energy and Mines had published a communication on their portals confirming the new prices. Nor has the corresponding resolution been located in the Official Gazette.
The message itself shared among clients acknowledges that the information is still awaiting public disclosure. “In any case, it will be reported through the company’s official channels,” states the text, which asks recipients to pass the warning on to their neighbors.
The absence of an official explanation has raised doubts about the date of entry into force, the territorial scope of the measure and the procedure to determine the consumption of homes without a meter.
Manufactured gas is distributed mainly in several municipalities of Havana through a network of pipes, unlike liquefied gas that is sold in cylinders. Bills for metered customers are calculated based on the monthly meter reading, while non-metered customers are charged a fixed rate related to the composition of the family unit.
The last official rate located appears in the Extraordinary Official Gazette number 68published on December 10, 2020 as part of the Monetary Regulation measures. The norm set the retail price of manufactured gas at 2.50 CUP per cubic meter and that of liquefied gas at 21.30 pesos per kilogram.
The measure especially punishes homes that do not have a meter and cannot reduce the bill through savings
The provision also established a maximum rate of 65 pesos per hour for new installation, renovation, variation or placement of equipment, and 50 pesos per hour for cutting and reconnecting the service.
If the new table is confirmed, the price of the cubic meter will have remained unchanged for more than five years before experiencing a rise close to 100%. However, for some non-metered customers the total increase in the bill could be much higher, due to the volume of consumption that will be automatically assigned to them.
A group of three people, for example, will have to pay for 60 cubic meters, regardless of whether their actual consumption is below that amount. The measure especially punishes homes that do not have a meter and cannot reduce their bill through savings.
Informal dissemination of these measures has become common in Cuba, where users learn of price changes, service interruptions and new regulations through neighborhood groups before authorities announce them publicly.
“Now we just need to get the bill,” commented a Havana resident after receiving the board in her building’s chat. In a city subject to long blackouts, manufactured gas remains one of the few relatively stable alternatives for cooking, but it could also no longer be one of the cheapest.
