Sierra Pacific Resources
Contact: Analyst: Rich Atkinson, 775-834-5640;
Barbara Doble, 702-367-5647
Media: Karl Walquist, 775-834-3891
Phone: see above

For Immediate Release

Reno, Nev. -- Sierra Pacific Resources (NYSE: SRP) priced its public offering of $300 million of its Corporate Premium Income Equity Securities (PIES) on Nov. 12 at a price of $50 per unit with quarterly payments of an initial annual combined rate of 9 percent.

Each Corporate PIES unit consists of a stock purchase contract and a senior unsecured note issued by the company with a face amount of $50. Each PIES purchase contract will (1) include the right to receive payments from the company on the purchase contract and (2) obligate the holder to purchase a number of shares of the company's common stock on Nov. 15, 2005. The number of shares of common stock receivable on the settlement date will be between 3.0084 and 3.6101 shares per unit depending on the average trading price of the company's common stock prior to the settlement date. Each PIES senior note matures on Nov. 15, 2007. The first quarterly payment date is Feb. 15, 2002.

Sierra Pacific intends to use the net proceeds of approximately $291 million to contribute capital to Sierra Pacific's utility subsidiaries and for general corporate purposes.

Sierra Pacific Resources'managing underwriters for this public offering are Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch&Co., Goldman, Sachs&Co., and Wachovia Securities. The Company has granted the underwriters a 13-day option to purchase up to 900,000 additional PIES to cover any over-allotments.

At the time of the offering, the company had approximately 102 million shares of its common stock outstanding. The shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

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, several unregulated energy services companies and Sierra Pacific Communications, a telecommunications network development company.

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

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell these securities, nor a solicitation of an offer to purchase these securities, nor is it a solicitation of any proxy or consent for any purpose.