Erin Hill
Gadsden County News Service
All customers on the Town of Havana’s electric system will temporarily lose power Sept. 13 while crews perform maintenance on the town’s electrical substation.
The planned outage is scheduled from 1 to 5 a.m., according to a notice issued by the town. Town officials said the early-morning hours were selected to minimize inconvenience to customers as much as possible.
Andres Hernandez Reyes, Havana’s electric superintendent, confirmed that the outage will affect everyone served by the town’s electric system.
Reyes said the shutdown is necessary to perform maintenance on the electrical substation. He said the work is intended to help provide reliable power.
The planned maintenance comes several years after Havana received $250,000 in state funding to upgrade its electrical substation.
In 2023, then-Mayor Timothy Loughmiller said the substation had been providing power to Havana since 1986. At the time, town officials were dealing with aging equipment and difficulty obtaining replacement parts.
The town’s fiscal year 2025-26 budget also includes $25,000 for painting transformers at the substation and $17,500 for recurring transformer replacement within the electric department. The town has not indicated whether either budget item is connected to the Sept. 13 maintenance.
The town also has not indicated that the upcoming maintenance is related to the equipment problems reported in 2023.
Havana operates its own municipal electric utility. According to the town, the electric department’s goal is to provide safe, reliable and affordable electricity to its customers.
Customers received advance notice of the planned interruption with their August utility bills. Residents with questions may contact Town Hall at 850-539-2820.