Social dimension

Before 1959, only 56% of the total population had access to electricity — not only because of the lack of physical access, but also due to the lack of sufficient income that would allow the population to pay for electricity. Since 1959, the Government has brought electricity to all places where it has been economically feasible. Between 1959 and 1975, electrification reached 70.5%.

Another accelerated advance in electrification occurred between 1980 and 1990, when rates reached 94%. The crisis of the 1990s did not allow such accelerated electrification rates and between 1990 and 2003 it was only possible to achieve a 1.5% additional increase in electrification. In 2003, 95.5% of the total population had electricity [2.9] (Fig. 2.13).

It is expected that 100% of the population will have electricity in the coming years, provided there are financial resources available to implement relevant programmes. Currently, the feasibility of decentralized grid independent energy sources is being assessed, including photovoltaic panels, mini-hydropower plants, wind generators, hybrid systems, biomass and biogas, as alternatives to extension of, or integration into, the electricity grid.

13 The new electricity tariff system for the public sector was approved by Resolu-tion 311-2001 of the Ministry of Finance and Prices on 29 August 2001 and went into effect on 1 January 2002.

The 4.5% of the population that do not have access to electricity use non-commercial energy sources instead. These people live in isolated rural districts, mainly mountainous areas. The eastern region of Cuba is the most mountainous and it is estimated that only 87% of the population there has electricity (according to PAEC surveys).

Occasionally, after rural communities were connected to the electricity grid, problems arose concerning the installed generating capacity. The additional demand through these connections was calculated on the basis of meeting certain prime service needs such as providing lighting, television, radio, etc. The increase in the standard of living brought about by electrifi-cation, however, led to an immediate increase in demand for additional electricity services such as refrigeration, ironing and cooking which exceeded the existing installed generating capacity. Another consequence of the electrifi-cation of small communities was migration, as access to electricity attracted isolated residents, which further boosted electricity demand. These experiences should be kept in mind in the implementation of new electrification projects.

Average electricity use per household grew from 82 kW·h/household/

month in 1970 to 140 kW·h/household/month in 2002. This growth occurred despite the fact that electricity demand in households has been controlled by restrictions imposed on the acquisition of some types of electric household appliance. Other factors have also had a considerable impact, such as the intro-duction of highly energy efficient appliances, subsidized programmes for replacing refrigerator gaskets, the shift to more energy efficient light bulbs,

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1958 1963 1968 1973 1978 1983 1988 1993 1998 2003 FIG. 2.13. Electricity access indicator. Source: Refs [2.3–2.9].

educational energy conservation campaigns and a new electricity tariff. These factors reduced the household electricity use in 2003 to 133 kW·h/household/

month.

Until 1990, the dominant fuel in the household sector was kerosene.

During the 1990s crisis, the fuel mix in the household sector changed. In 1995, electricity replaced kerosene as the main energy type used in the household sector. The shares of electricity, city gas and LPG have increased significantly in household energy use, reaching 47, 6 and 16% of the total energy use of the sector, respectively, in 2003. Kerosene accounts for 20%, alcohol 3%, charcoal 1% and fuelwood less than 1%.

The economic activity in Cuba between 1975 and 1985, the comprehen-siveness and universality of the social programmes that were implemented during this period (which resulted in very high levels of electricity access) and the process of bringing the standards of living of all families closer together throughout the country supported the view that poverty as a social problem had been eradicated [2.15]. However, since the economic crisis of the 1990s, the issue of poverty has re-emerged.

The crisis and the reforms adopted to address the poverty issue have had different impacts on the population, mainly because of the use of two currencies (local and hard currencies). Economic activities on the black market have grown. With the possession of hard currencies legally permitted in the country, those families with access to that form of currency have a higher standard of living.

The few studies on poverty carried out in the country agree that current poverty in Cuba should be differentiated from that observed in other parts of Latin America and the Caribbean. Consequently, it has been suggested that, in the case of Cuba, the concept of ‘population at risk’ should refer to the population that has insufficient revenues to acquire basic foods and non-food goods, but which at the same time has a safety net qualitatively superior to that of the poor in the rest of Latin America.

Studies carried out in Cuba [2.16] show that the eastern region was the most affected by the crisis of the 1990s. About 30% of the urban population is settled in this region and about 22% of this population was considered to be at risk. A survey on the economic situation of households carried out in 1999 determined that 20% of Cuba’s entire population was considered to be at risk.

A major share of this population also had no access to electricity and used non-commercial energy to meet their minimum energy requirements.

Another aspect of energy use that has repercussions on the social and economic dimensions of sustainable development is the increasing use of hot water. Incentives and mechanisms are needed to reduce the cost of water heaters to make them affordable for the population. In addition, it is necessary

to adopt stricter standards for the best use of solar radiation and natural ventilation in all types of building, to establish appropriate measures to control the implementation of the standards and to promote the sale of specific materials for such purposes.