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

Sierra Pacific Resources Declares Quarterly Dividend Las Vegas, Nev.Â- The Board of Directors of Sierra Pacific Resources (NYSE: SRP) has approved a quarterly dividend on common stock of 20 cents per share. The dividend is payable March 15, 2002, to shareholders of record at the close of business on Feb. 22, 2002.

The Board of Directors also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.4875 per share on the Class A1 Preferred Stock of Sierra Pacific Power Company. The dividend is payable on March 1, 2002, to preferred stock shareholders of record as of Feb. 8, 2002.

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 and several unregulated energy services companies.