Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) on Thursday proposed special power lines to carry renewable energy generated from solar, geothermal and wind sources from America’s heartland to population centers. Reid says the federal government would be able to override states and direct where the lines would go and who would pay for them.

“This legislation will require the President to designate renewable energy zones in areas with significant clean energy generating potential. States, utilities, and generation developers must cooperate in planning to determine the best way to get that power to the areas where energy is needed. If there is any delay in the process, then the federal government would be given clear authority to keep it going to ensure the new transmission lines are built on schedule and funded equitably,” Reid says in a release at: reid.senate.gov/.

The measure is expected to become part of a broader Senate energy bill that the body plans to take up in coming weeks, the Associated Press reports.

One of the drawbacks with renewable sources of energy thus far is that they tend to be produced in more remote areas well away from large population centers where the power is most needed.