Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Tuesday said he intends to push legislation that would allow renewable energy developers to receive eight years of tax credits in one year.

The senior Nevada senator said the measure would help solar, wind, geothermal and other renewable energy developers to marshal enough money to build projects, something that has become difficult during the credit crunch.

Congress this fall extended tax credits for solar and other renewable power projects for eight more years. Reid suggested the change in tax credits so that "green" power developers could fund projects using their own money and tax credits.

The measure would be part of an economic recovery package that would also call for spending on infrastructure.

Reid's proposal appears similar to one made this month by a spokesman for the Solar Energy Industries Association. He called for refundable tax credits up front for solar projects because of the credit crunch. The association also called for $1 billion to install solar panels on government buildings, which would create an estimated 350,000 jobs.

Reid acknowledged that it has become more difficult to finance renewable energy projects, because credit markets are tight and loans so difficult to obtain.

Abengoa Solar, which agreed to develop a $1 billion, 280-megawatt solar thermal plant and sell the power to Arizona Public Service, reported this month that it had been unable to get financing.

Reid made the disclosure during a press conference following a closed meeting with about 60 government, military and industry representatives at the Fifth Street School in downtown Las Vegas.

Reid was asked whether the financial and economic crisis had not taken top priority over development of renewable energy.

"We have to do renewable energy no matter the state of the economy," Reid said.

The majority leader called the meeting to discuss setting priorities for energy at the local, federal and state levels. The panel included Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, Rep. Shelly Berkley, Representative-elect Dina Titus, state Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, Danny Thompson of the AFL-CIO and Michael Yackira, chief executive officer of NV Energy.

"I think it was a really good meeting," Reid said.

The first hour of the meeting was closed to the news media in an effort to make participants more willing to speak openly, Reid spokesman Jon Summers said.

Reid said he wants energy independence for the country and the state.

"The whole country is not secure as long as we're importing 70 percent of our oil," Reid said.

"We really do believe we can be energy independent (in Nevada)," Reid said. "We have huge amounts of renewable energy (in Nevada), but we haven't developed it all."

He advocated development of the state's vast renewable resources.

Some of the state's solar, wind and geothermal power is in areas remote from population centers and far from electrical power lines.

The question, Reid said, is "how do we get energy we produce here to where it needs to go?" The answer, he said, was to build more transmission lines to link cities with remote renewable resource areas.

While Reid was meeting with officials at the school, Gov. Jim Gibbons' Renewable Energy Transmission Access Advisory Committee was meeting in Las Vegas to discuss plans for how to transmit renewable energy from where it is produced to where it is needed.

Like Reid, Gibbons touted energy independence.

"The geothermal and wind energy potential in Northern Nevada is enormous, as is solar energy potential in Southern Nevada," Gibbons said in a statement. Gibbons said green power projects create jobs and keep money in Nevada that otherwise would be sent out of state.

The committee reviewed maps that it had spent 18 months developing to show how geothermal, wind and solar energy can be generated and linked to a power grid serving Nevada and other states.

"We're rolling out a comprehensive plan to utilize renewable resources within the state and for export to markets outside Nevada," Gibbons said, adding, "This puts Nevada about a year ahead of every other state interesting in doing similar things."

"Nevada can truly become energy independent with this plan, and all we have to do now is to modernize our electrical grid infrastructure -- and we're on our way to having a completely new legacy for the state," the governor said.

The advisory committee maps show solar power sites covering broad swaths of Southern Nevada, and wind and geothermal energy areas in western, central and eastern parts of the state. It's estimated that the areas could generate tens of thousands of kilowatt hours of power.

The first phase of the transmission lines for the areas already is in the works. The state Public Utilities Commission voted this month to approve the Southwest Intertie Project, which would run more than 200 miles from the Ely area to near Las Vegas. That project should be completed by 2011.

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