Brazil’s electricity concession cliffhanger: Can bureaucrats quickly take needed action?

Overview

Brazil’s federal and state power utilities face a vexing legal time bomb. The concessions for nearly one-fifth of the country’s total electricity generation capacity, over 80 per cent of its main transmission grid and two-thirds of its distribution system will expire around 2015. Under current Brazilian law many of these concessions, particularly in the generation sector, cannot be renewed again and could return to federal government control unless the law is changed.

The uncertain...