Sierra Pacific Power Company
Contact: Robert Sagan or Karl Walquist
Phone: (775)834-4834 or (775)834-3891

For Immediate Release

California customers served by Sierra Pacific Power Co. are getting a $2.3 million reduction in their electric prices. The 5.6 percent price reduction will be effective June 1, 1996.

The bill for a typical California full-time residential customer using 650 kilowatt hours of electricity a month will drop from approximately $60.41 to $56.83.

The price reduction is being made to ensure price stability for customers while the proposed merger of Sierra Pacific and the Washington Water Power Company is pending before federal utility regulators. In addition, the price reduction reflects the lower prices Sierra Pacific has been paying for fuel to operate its power plants and for electricity purchased from other utilities.

Under terms of the merger agreement approved in October 1995 by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), prices were to be reduced for Sierra Pacific?s customers upon completion of the merger.

Because the merger has been delayed, Sierra Pacific has agreed to a partial price reduction, with an additional reduction to occur following the merger. The CPUC has agreed to extend the effectiveness of its California merger order by 18 months.

Sierra Pacific's Nevada customers benefited from a $12.3 million reduction in electricity prices in May of 1995. That 2.9 percent price resulted from the lower prices the utility was paying for fuel and purchased power.

Sierra Pacific serves approximately 42,000 customers in California, most of whom reside in the Lake Tahoe area, Portola and Loyalton.