Hawai'i is getting a lot of well-deserved attention as a state on the vanguard of the march toward renewable energy and away from reliance on fossil fuels. The reason: a new partnership aimed at giving electric vehicles a larger share of the transportation marketplace, which is now almost entirely powered by gasoline refined from imported crude oil.

That partnership, involving Hawaiian Electric Co., the Silicon Valley company Better Place and the state of Hawai'i, is working to create a network of stations to recharge electric vehicles. This system of electric storage batteries, linked to the HECO power grid, would be privately funded and ultimately charged by renewable-energy generators.

This effort not only provides a smart alternative for consumers, but also leads us in the right direction toward the goal of ending our dependence on fossil fuels and reducing caustic carbon emissions.

To make this a truly "green" effort, HECO must work aggressively, as it promises, to achieve a higher percentage of energy from renewable sources.

The state is right on the mark in working to encourage such partnerships through a streamlined permitting process and marketing Hawai'i as a place that welcomes this kind of innovation.

To its credit, the Lingle administration has been clear on both of those concepts. State lawmakers and state officials have collaborated on various "green" energy initiatives and have made some progress in whittling the delays that come through governmental review.

It was relatively easy for the Republican governor and the Democratic Legislature to reach that accord during days when fuel costs were skyrocketing. Now their job is to keep their eye on the prize of greater energy independence despite the current decline in gas prices. Consumers are enjoying the respite at the pump, but most understand that basic supply-and-demand forces will ultimately drive prices back up for good.

The Better World business plan deserves support, because it deals with some of the practical challenges facing the electric-car industry. Electric vehicles are expensive, giving pause to potential buyers particularly in this economic climate. Market forces will eventually help in this regard.

The capacity of the battery is improving, but many consumers still worry about overall reliability.

To ease that concern, the planned high-tech system, using global positioning, will track the power levels in each car and will direct drivers to one of a large network of plug-in points to refuel. The batteries are leased, not purchased, and can be swapped out at special servicing stations if a quick charge is needed.

Consumers will buy subscriptions, like cellular phone billing, with a range of pay-as-you-go or set-mileage plans.

The challenge will be to see that it pencils out well for the drivers as well as Better Place. This is where HECO comes in.

A key component in making the plan work is increasing renewable energy production to make the use of electric cars more economical.

HECO is now seeking proposals from companies to produce 100 megawatts of renewable energy on O'ahu, potentially tapping everything from solar to landfill gas.

Its energy blueprint also includes a March 2009 deadline to submit to the Public Utilities Commission a proposal for using customers' commercial or residential sites to install photovoltaic solar systems. That's encouraging, and the utility needs to work to ensure that its clean-energy portfolio develops in concert with the commercial roll-out of the electric vehicles in 2011.

HECO has an essential role to play if the state is to meet its Hawai'i Clean Energy Initiative goal: to satisfy 70 percent of the state's energy demands from renewable sources by 2030.

The utility needs to apply a high level of its own corporate energy to complete the critical task of becoming less an oil-powered electricity producer and more a distributor of "green" energy produced by various companies, and even consumers themselves.