‘The only pressure we have left’: Port-au-Prince hit by second blackout as residents weaponize power cuts

PORT-AU-PRINCE —Haiti’s capital has been in total blackout for over 3 days after residents from the Central Plateau shut down the Péligre hydroelectric plant—Haiti’s main source of electricity—in protest. Power cuts have left Port-au-Prince and its surrounding communities in complete darkness for the second time in just over a month, revealing the fragile power of the country’s governing body, the Transitional Presidential Council (CPT) and the intensifying frustration among residents already facing gang violence and government inaction.

This shutdown, which started June 17, marks a sharp escalation in tensions, as citizens from the Central Plateau accuse the CPT of ignoring months of pleas to retake the cities of Mirebalais and Saut-d’Eau. These towns have been under near-total gang control since March 31. Locals say the Péligre plant is the only leverage they have left.

“We asked for help, for reinforcements. Nothing came. Now we’re using the only pressure we have left: the electricity that powers the capital,” said Robenson Mazarin, a lawyer and resident of the commune. 

The Péligre dam and facility, located less than six miles from the gang-controlled commune of Mirebalais, is Haiti’s primary power plant. Designed and built in the 1950s by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Brown and Root during the Paul Eugène Magloire presidency, the plant has already seen its output drop to 36 megawatts.

The state-run company Electricité d’Haïti (EDH) operates the Péligre hydroelectric plant under the supervision of the Ministry of Public Works, Transport, and Communications. Péligre alone supplies more than 30% of the country’s electricity. 

What was once a capital surviving on sporadic power rationing has now gone completely dark.

“Give us security, drive out the gangs, and allow the residents living in poor conditions to return home so that electricity in Péligre can be restored,”  Mazarin said. According to Mazarin, residents only control the small neighborhood of Basarazin in Mirebalais.

Back in May, residents cut power to Port-au-Prince after the Haitian Taliban gang and 400 Mawozo gang members who took control of Mirebalais set fire to heavy equipment being used by police forces to unblock the roads and erected barriers near the Péligre junction. The gangs then organized a rara music event to celebrate their takeover of the town. In response to the gang’s premature victory celebration, residents dismantled the infrastructure needed to transmit electricity to the capital, ensuring the blackout would not be temporary. 

At that time, CPT President Fritz Alphonse Jean promised local leaders that the plant’s operation would be safeguarded and that security would improve. None of those promises were kept, according to residents.

The latest power cut occurred with more determination and deeper frustration.  According to Mazarin, it’s not just a service interruption this time but a deliberate and damaging escalation. The residents dismantled a transmission tower connecting the plant to the high-voltage lines supplying the capital. Significant repairs would now be needed to restore power, repairs that would be difficult with the current gang presence. 

“The government has shown that it cares more about the electricity plant than our lives and our belongings,” said Mazarin. “So now, they will get neither.”

Neither the CPT or the Electricité d’Haïti (EDH), the state-run power utility, has issued a public statement. 

In Port-au-Prince, reactions to the blackout vary. Some residents, especially those relying on solar energy or inverters, say they feel little impact. Others, particularly small business owners and students, are deeply affected.

“I live in Plaine du Cul-de-Sac, and there is always a blackout,” said a resident who chose to stay anonymous due to privacy concerns.

“Where I live, there’s plenty of light, people use solar energy,” said a resident of Pétion-Ville who also chose to remain anonymous due to privacy concerns. The resident emphasized that the presence or absence of state-supplied electricity makes no real difference to them.

Some lights in the capital come from inverters, solar panels, and rechargeable bulbs used in homes across several neighborhoods. In areas like Christ-Roi and Delmas—which have recently come under gang threat— some street corners remain lit with solar-powered rechargeable lamps.

Until security returns to Mirebalais and Saut-d’Eau, residents insist the Péligre plant will remain shut down. For now, Port-au-Prince remains in the dark—literally and symbolically.

“The plant cannot be restarted now without repairs, and it would be difficult to repair it without solving the problems in the towns of Mirebalais and Saut-d’Eau,” Mazarin said.

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