WASHINGTON — The Senate’s top Democrat on Thursday proposed new federal authority to build special power lines that carry renewable energy - like solar and wind power - from remote places. The Federal government would be able override states and direct where the lines would go and who would pay for them. In unveiling the proposal, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said an increased federal role in locating power lines was needed to encourage greater availability of electricity produced from wind, solar, geothermal and other renewable energy sources. ‘Reforming our energy policies to build a cleaner, greener national transmission system - an electric superhighway - must be a top national priority,’ Reid said in a statement. His proposal was expected to become part of a broader energy bill the Senate plans to take up in the coming weeks. Reid’s measure would give the president authority to declare ‘renewable energy zones’ that have great potential for generating electricity from renewable sources such as wind and solar but which have no high-voltage transmission lines to bring that power to consumers. While states and the federal government would jointly develop ‘green’ transmission plans for such […]