Monday’s massive blackout is raising concerns that electricity rationing may hit Brazil this year, dealing a potentially serious blow to the nation’s already fragile economy. Energy officials blamed soaring summer demand and a transmission glitch for Monday’s outage , which rolled through the capital Brasília and 11 states, including São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. But power woes in Brazil, which is suffering from a severe, multiyear drought, won’t be easily solved, according to Mário Veiga, president of PSR Consultoria, an energy consulting group in Rio de Janeiro. He said Brazilian authorities have exacerbated the current crisis by not pressuring consumers to reduce energy consumption sooner. “The problems occurred because the [federal] government did nothing to avoid this situation,” Mr. Veiga said. Mr. Veiga estimated that there is now a 30% chance that Brazil’s southeast, the country’s richest and most populous region, will face energy rationing in coming […]