Cuba's national power grid has collapsed for the third time in less than 10 days, plunging the communist-run Caribbean island into darkness and leaving roughly 10 million people without electricity. The cascading failures show the regime's accelerating loss of control over critical infrastructure, just as senior U.S. defense officials evaluate potential military options aimed at regime change in Havana.
CBS News reported that senior U.S. defense officials have reviewed early-stage military options for Cuba, including an Army-led air assault involving thousands of troops from the 101st Airborne Division.
More color from the report:
Military planners have in recent weeks examined a range of options for possible action against the island, including an Army-led air assault involving thousands of U.S. soldiers to be carried out by the 101st Airborne Division, the only unit trained for such a task, according to multiple U.S. officials with knowledge of the discussions.
The officials, who spoke to CBS News under condition of anonymity to discuss national security matters, stressed that the briefings are not an indication that President Trump or the Pentagon have decided to carry out an operation.
Any regime-change operation could face constraints because U.S. aircraft, intelligence assets, and offensive capabilities have been shifted to the Gulf region, where fighting has flared up again over the past week.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio continues to favor a negotiated transition toward a new government willing to pursue economic reforms after decades of destructive communist policies that transformed the Caribbean island into a Marxist hellhole.
On Monday, President Trump told reporters that his team is investigating whether Iran has stockpiled suicide drones in Cuba.
When asked by a reporter about the purported intelligence report on drones stockpiled in Cuba, Trump replied: "If they have them, and it's very possible that they do, we'll take care of it."
Trump also suggested that the communists on the island might be storing Iranian missiles, something his administration "is looking into right now."
Recall that in early February, we were the first to raise the question of the possible drone threat originating from Cuba. Axios followed in May, and now the administration appears to be discussing the threat more frequently.
Rubio has also sanctioned several Cuban entities, including ICAP, which may be at the center of a foreign subversion network potentially linked to the Democratic Socialists of America.
The independent Cuban news outlet ADN Cuba recently leaked a memo stating that far-left activists in the U.S. are prepared to launch rapid-response protests at federal buildings, military bases, recruitment centers, and ICE facilities in the event of a military confrontation between the U.S. military and the communist regime in Havana.
Tyler Durden Wed, 07/15/2026 - 17:20Authored by Autumn Spredemann via The Epoch Times,
Beneath the hills of Appalachia lies the nation's largest natural gas-producing basin, yet many of the pipelines needed to move this vital resource are operating near capacity.
A worker on the production floor at Pioneer Pipe in Marietta, Ohio, on Oct. 25, 2016. Replacing aging gas pipelines is critical to preventing leaks, spills, and explosions. Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesMeanwhile, demand for electricity is growing faster than it has in years. Data centers accounted for 50 percent of that demand growth in 2025, according to the International Energy Agency.
In the famous "Data Center Alley" of northern Virginia, energy giant Williams Companies is expanding its Transco natural gas pipeline system, while developers are proposing to build gas-fired power plants adjacent to data centers to bypass traditional grid interconnections, according to Global Energy Monitor.
Enlarging the support network for ramped-up natural gas production involves far more than installing and replacing pipes. Systems require stations that maintain the pressure to move gas over hundreds of miles, through processing plants, storage facilities, and metering stations. They also require connections to power plants, factories, export terminals, and local distribution networks.
Industry experts say this infrastructure network must continue modernizing to improve reliability and reduce supply bottlenecks.
"We need to build an awful lot more [natural gas] infrastructure, potentially 25 percent more than we currently have," Henry Froats, owner of Hydrotech Testing Services, told The Epoch Times.
"Areas with aging infrastructure will be replaced and upgraded, but the real need is expanding total capacity to handle electricity generation demand and data center growth over the next 25 years."
Ian McPhillips, director of energy engineering and principal at BL Companies, explained it's not just the total annual consumption that's increasing. The fact that the majority of that increase is driven by power generation makes it tricky.
"Generation facilities are being built around the entire country to keep up with electric demand, and if those plants are using gas that would otherwise be heading to the population centers in the Northeast, significant changes will be needed to provide gas to generators during periods of cold weather when firm gas supplies are committed to the space heating markets," he told The Epoch Times.
Demand SurgeNatural gas accounts for 39 percent of American electricity production, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
"Natural gas supply is critical as we forecast that U.S. liquefied natural gas exports expand and electricity demand rises through 2027, driven largely by increasing demand from large computing facilities, including data centers," EIA Administrator Tristan Abbey said in a January press release.
In May, the EIA reported that project developers plan to add 44.9 billion cubic feet per day of new natural gas pipeline capacity, which should come online in 2026 and 2027. Most of this expansion will be in Texas, and 70 percent of this new capacity is already under construction.
The timing is significant. After years of relatively stable electricity demand, utilities are preparing for sustained growth driven by data center expansion, domestic power generation, and a growing export sector for natural and liquid natural gas, the EIA said.
The agency reported that America's natural gas exports will grow by 30 percent by 2027. At the same time, five liquid natural gas export development projects are ramping up production through the end of next year.
Power generation has also risen alongside record-high electricity consumption in the United States. This number grew from 4,195 billion kilowatt-hours in 2025 to 4,271 billion kWh in 2026 and is forcasted to reach 4,397 billion kWh in 2027.
An analysis by the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America Foundation found that the United States needs to add around 34,000 miles of new natural gas pipeline and increase transmission capacity by 39 percent by 2052.
While demand for natural gas continues to climb, expanding the infrastructure needed to supply that growth presents a different challenge.
Aging InfrastructureExisting natural gas infrastructure is showing its age, and rising costs are making both expansion and proactive maintenance difficult.
According to the Department of Transportation, bare steel, cast iron, and wrought iron transport pipes are some of the oldest energy-related pipelines operating in the United States today. Many were installed more than 60 years ago.
Scott Schwandt, president and infrastructure systems expert at Gajeske, told The Epoch Times that many of these older metal pipe systems "are becoming increasingly exposed to spills, resulting in severe threats and significant environmental damage."
Schwandt believes it's paramount to identify and replace decades-old piping with more advanced high-density polyethylene (HDPE) material, which could reduce distribution leaks at pipe joints and require "substantially lower" levels of routine maintenance.
The smokestacks of the former coal-fired Homer City Generating Station are demolished to make way for a new natural gas-fired power plant in Homer City, Pa., on March 22, 2025. Beneath the hills of Appalachia lies the nation's largest natural gas-producing region. Gene J. Puska /AP Photo/file Tyler Durden Wed, 07/15/2026 - 17:00Temperatures across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast are set to rise on Wednesday, with highs approaching the upper 90s and the PJM power grid likely to see a sharp increase in electricity demand as air-conditioning use is set to climb through the afternoon.
Cooler temperatures are expected to follow in the days ahead, but relief may be short-lived as wildfire smoke threatens to spread across the region by the end of the week, potentially degrading air quality.
Meteorologist Ben Noll wrote in a note earlier that smoke from out-of-control blazes in western Ontario and northern Minnesota is expected to pour into New York's Hudson Valley beginning Wednesday afternoon.
via Meteorologist Ben NollA much larger and denser smoke plume is forecast to arrive late week across much of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.
via Meteorologist Ben NollAir quality readings (as of Wednesday morning):
via IQAirMore from Noll:
This smoke is forecast to drift south and east on Wednesday night, reaching Philadelphia and then potentially Baltimore, D.C. and Boston by Thursday morning.
Wind flows are expected to continue blowing smoke of varying intensity into the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic through Friday, before a brief shift in winds on Saturday may blow some of the smoke away.
Of note, Noll did not attribute the heat and wildfires to climate change, as some lefty journalists only know how to do. We must note that an El Niño is emerging.
Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers from Minnesota and Wisconsin have blamed Canada's horrible forest-management policies for contributing to years of out-of-control wildfires and recurring toxic smoke plumes across the US.
Tyler Durden Wed, 07/15/2026 - 16:40