Advocates for more adoption of renewable energy sources know that the easy pickings — enlisting participants who are already on board with the idea — have been harvested. It will take a hard push to make much more progress toward the state’s aggressive clean-energy goals, so it’s gratifying that the state Public Utilities Commission was willing to provide one.

Last week the regulatory agency issued a pair of orders to Hawaiian Electric (HECO), the state’s largest utility. They will require ongoing PUC oversight to ensure that savings from the green-energy shift are adequately passed on to consumers, whether they’re single-family homeowners or apartment dwellers.

The orders also will require a considerable outreach and education effort to help more customers access the plan and adapt their work-life routines to reap the benefits. It’s going to be tough for many families that are often scurrying to hit all their scheduling marks. Lots of chores and necessities gravitate toward the after-work, after-school hours.

Assuming all that happens, though, these orders should be a game-changer, especially welcome news at a time when rising energy rates have been grating on inflation-weary residents.

One PUC directive would have HECO establish a framework to connect solar panels and battery storage to the power grid and to compensate customers for the power that they generate themselves and add to the grid. This would broaden the capacity for renewable energy generation and use, and the incentive should accelerate the adoption of the technologies.

But it’s the other order that may resonate more immediately with the utility’s ratepayers, because it is expected to be fully implemented in a couple of years. The PUC is mandating the company to overhaul its electricity rate structure to one that has three time periods with distinct prices, to encourage customers to shift their high usage toward the midday hours.

That way, more of the power used would be the renewable energy that is more plentiful on the grid at that time, especially what’s generated by rooftop photovoltaic cells. The PUC is the first state regulatory agency to mandate this policy statewide.

What’s called a “time of use” scheme already has been rolled out in a limited way, making use of newer “smart” meters, which measure electricity use at homes and businesses and relays the data remotely to Hawaiian Electric. About 150,000, just under a third of HECO customers, have smart meters, according to the utility.

In 2016, HECO began rolling out a time-of-use plan allowing customers to enroll. Since January 2017 it has tracked the slightly fluctuating rates (see 808ne.ws/time-of-use).

The highest rate (in cents per kilowatt-hour) for October was 56.6 for the 5-9 p.m. peak hours. The lowest rate, 29.8, was charged for the 9 a.m-5 p.m. span, with the remaining off-peak hours of 9 p.m.- 9 a.m. charged 48.9. Then there are weekend and holiday rates similar to those for weekday overnights.

It’s rational that there will be an opt-out plan for people whose schedules may be unsuited to this scheme, but officials will have to keep the pledge to keep those rates at least in line with the electric bills they’re paying now.

All this is going to be a challenge, not only for the utility but for county-level regulatory agencies that now will be expected to manage the inevitable crush of solar-installation permit applications. Already, the city’s Department of Planning and Permitting has struggled to keep up with demand as-is, so that agency’s ongoing reforms will be crucial.

Hawaii is a state that should be at the forefront of the green-energy movement. Proper implementation of these new PUC orders should help to propel it forward.