Sierra Pacific Resources (NYSE: SRP) announced today that it is offering 6,000,000 Premium Income Equity Securities (PIES).

Net Proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes, which may include financing the activities and capital expenditures of Sierra Pacific's utility subsidiaries, financing of the company's assets and those of Sierra Pacific's subsidiaries, and refinancing existing borrowings.

Lehman Brothers will serve as book-running manager and Merrill Lynch & Co., Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Wachovia Securities will serve as co-managers for the offering.

The company will also grant the underwriters an option to purchase up to 900,000 additional PIES to cover over-allotments, if any.

A copy of the preliminary prospectus supplement and prospectus relating to the offering may be obtained from Lehman Brothers Inc., 101 Hudson Avenue, Jersey City, NJ 07032, Attention: ADP Prospectus Delivery Department (telephone: 631-254-7106); or by contacting any of the other underwriters.

Each PIES will be a unit consisting of (1) a stock purchase contract issued by Sierra Pacific Resources and (2) a senior unsecured note issued by Sierra Pacific Resources with a face amount of $50. Each stock purchase contract will (1) include the right to receive payments from Sierra Pacific Resources on the purchase contract and (2) obligate the holder to purchase a number of Sierra Pacific Resources common shares in 2005 for a set price of $50.

The number of common shares receivable on the settlement date will be based on the average trading price of Sierra Pacific Resources common shares prior to the settlement date.

Headquartered in Nevada, Sierra Pacific Resources is a holding company whose principal subsidiaries are Nevada Power Company, the electric utility for most of southern Nevada, and Sierra Pacific Power Company, the electric utility for most of northern Nevada and the Lake Tahoe area of California. Sierra Pacific Power Company also distributes natural gas in the Reno-Sparks area of northern Nevada. Other subsidiaries include the Tuscarora Gas Pipeline Company, which owns 50 percent interest in an interstate natural gas transmission partnership, Sierra Pacific Communications, a telecommunications company, and Sierra Pacific Energy (e.three), an energy services conservation company.

"Premium Income Equity Securities" and "PIES" are service marks owned by Lehman Brothers Inc.

This press release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations. These risks and uncertainties include, in addition to those discussed herein, all of the factors discussed in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2000, and its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2001. These reports have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and are available without charge through the EDGAR system at its Web site, http://www.sec.gov/ .

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SOURCE: Sierra Pacific Resources

Contact: analysts, Rich Atkinson, +1-775-834-5640, or Barbara Doble,
+1-702-367-5647, or media, Karl Walquist, +1-775-834-3891, all of Sierra
Pacific Resources

Website: http://www.sec.gov/

Website: http://www.sierrapacific.com/