Brazil is once again rewarding those who fail well. Enel, under fire for blackouts and poor service in São Paulo, and Light, fresh out of bankruptcy protection, are both on track to secure new multi-decade concessions. In the name of “continuity” and “investment stability,” regulators and the federal government seem eager to extend contracts as if more time could replace competence.
Light, which only recently sought court protection from creditors, now wants another 30-year license to serve millions of customers in Rio. Enel, still facing political pressure after repeated outages, is also negotiating extra years to prove it can keep the lights on. In both cases, regulation has become a consolation prize — rewarding survival rather than performance.
The official rationale is predictable: avoid uncertainty, preserve investment flows, ensure public service delivery. But the outcome is perverse. If the risk of losing a concession is minimal, the cost of failure is too. In the power sector, failure is expensive — for consumers and for credibility. Brazil keeps trading accountability for stability, as if the two were synonyms.
Gentil Nogueira, the ANEEL rapporteur who recommended Light’s 30-year renewal, cited compliance with existing regulatory criteria but no leap in service standards or investment commitments. The proposal reflects maintenance rather than progress — a box-ticking exercise dressed as reform. And this is just the start: more than 20 distribution concessions are lined up for renewal, turning what should be a structural overhaul into an administrative routine. Between reform and renewal, Brazil chose the comfort of the familiar. In this country, even failure comes with a new deadline.
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