“What really set me off was when I heard from a cousin in Cuba who had power restored in two days,” Jackie Alvarez, a Miamian, told the paper. “FPL promoted their plans for recovery, but it’s been worse than a third-world country.”
I lifted the above quote from an on-line news story.
Alvarez’s Cuban cousin may live adjacent to a main three phase overhead feeder that also serves his home, perhaps just two blocks from a substation that was knocked out by a small tree limb simply laying across the line (i.e…simply remove limb, turn power back on to thousands).
Alvarez’s MIami home may be fed from a now blown-out underground electrical service tap at the end of a long line that feeds nothing but his still-dark home (i.e….first get thousands of folks on the same main feeder line restored, then deal with the isolated damaged services going to individual houses).
I don’t know the answers to this; I am not there. But it is likely that neither Alvarez nor the reporter who quoted him, who are there, know this either. However, the quote makes for more compelling press.
The same people who refuse to let power companies remove dangerous trees and maintain rights-of-way in their neighborhoods, for reasons of personal aesthetics, are often the ones who call first and complain the loudest when the now-fallen trees have completely destroyed dozens of spans of power lines that serve thousands of homes. After the power has been out a few days, they then never seem to care how many trees have to be cut. By that time their personal inconvenience overrides their formerly outrageous aesthetic objections.
Be careful linemen, everywhere. Thank you for your vital skills and service.
Be careful of what you read. It may not contain everything you need to know to be able to reasonably agree or disagree.
©2017 Mississippi Chris Sharp
Mississippi Chris Sharp CLL Blog 
https://www.reuters.com/article/cuba-economy/cuba-strapped-for-cash-acts-to-avoid-power-blackouts-economy-minister-idUSL1N19R0UU
What does power restoration actually mean in the context of Cuba if they were already experiencing rationing to avoid potential blackouts?
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Good question. It may be as cogent as references to Cuba’s 100% literacy rate.
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