OREANDA-NEWS. Fulfilling a possible state mandate for procuring 50pc of electricity from renewable sources requires savvy consumers, energy storage and finding uses for excessive daytime solar power generation, the California Independent System Operator (ISO) says.

The 50pc goal proposed by governor Jerry Brown (D) is achievable with the right set of policies, according to the strategic vision document adopted on 27 March by the ISO governors.

Many of the proposed policies would require economic planning. "It is crucial not just to match supply to demand, but to coordinate usage to match production," the document says.

The ISO, whose grid covers three-quarters of California, wants to export more electricity to neighboring states and hopes for more electric cars on the roads, especially if their drivers help balance the grid via coordinated charging of batteries.

"Some of these options are costly, some save money and some take years to develop, but they are feasible," the strategists say.

The key recommendation in the ISO strategy is introduction of time-of-use rates for electricity consumers to help better distribute demand throughout the day, aligning it with solar generation.

But state utility regulators and politicians, with their memories of the state's 2000-01 power crisis, will be reluctant to allow full flexibility into retail rates.

The grid operator already is dealing with excess solar generation that results in curtailments and negative daytime real-time prices, after making good progress toward the current goal of meeting the 33pc procurement standard from renewable sources.

An ISO study last year suggested that even a 40pc standard will be hard to implement and determined that California will remain a net importer of electricity in the next decade, in part because of legacy import arrangements from federally managed western hydropower projects.