| The researcher identified that there is a growing need to create a sustainable and competitive power supply system in Zimbabwe whose government had a long-standing monopoly of the energy sector.The main aim of the study was to break the monopoly of power supply in Zimbabwe through embracing innovation and energy democracy.The thesis was anchored on Schumpter’s Innovation Theory which alludes that innovation can revolutionize the old monopolistic power systems.The study utilized a qualitative methodology,a sample of 450 key informants from the producer and consumer part and interviews and documentary review as methods data collection.The study found out that the power supply system is monopolized by the government through its state owned enterprises.The impact of power supply monopoly is felt in the social functioning,public facilities and civilian consumption.In terms of social functioning,the prolonged and widespread power outage signifies a constrained power supply system which transforms negative implications on essential services and amenities.Also that the power supply system was linked to the production industry of the country hence the need for competitive and sustainable power supply systems.The study reached a conclusion that Zimbabwe is experiencing power supply problems which has made the system unreliable,inefficient and largely unsustainable.Constructing a sustainable power supply against a position of national monopoly would require breaking down monopoly before fixing the problems associated with infrastructure in the power supply.The breaking of monopoly must emerge from uniformity in policy,combating graft,and getting rid of complexity and red tape.The solution to the monopolized unsustainable power system in Zimbabwe rests on the creation of competitive market through de-regularization and a change in the dominant coordination system from hierarchy to network to price mechanism and/or an additional coordination system. |
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