Sierra Pacific Resources
Contact: Faye I. Andersen
Phone: (775)-834-4822

For Immediate Release

Las Vegas, Nev.Â- Sierra Pacific Resources (NYSE: SRP) today reported net income of $86.9 million, or 28 cents per share, on 183 million shares outstanding, for the three months ended September 30, 2003. This compares with earnings of $79.4 million, or 78 cents per share, on 102 million shares outstanding, in thesame quarter of 2002. For the nine months ended September 30, 2003, the company realized a loss of $103.1 million, compared with a $268 million loss for the same period in 2002. The 183 million shares include 65.7 million shares related to convertible securities.

Overall, the effect of increased volumes resulting from warmer than normal weather and continuing strong customer growth experienced by the company's utility subsidiaries during the third quarter was largely offset by decreases in energy rates set by previous state regulatory decisions. These factors resulted in Nevada Power Company showing a modest increase in retail revenues while Sierra Pacific Power Company's retail electric revenues were slightly lower. Another factor impacting earnings for the quarter was higher interest costs on long-term debt.

During the most recent quarter, the company's shareholders approved the issuance of up to 42.7 million additional shares of common stock related to the conversion option of convertible notes sold by the company in February 2003. The mark-to-market calculation of the fair value of the derivative, which was completed August 11, 2003, resulted in a pre-tax unrealized gain of approximately $61.5 million, or $40 million after taxes.

As a result of a judgment issued on September 26 by the Enron Bankruptcy Court, the company, during the 2003 third quarter, also increased its reserves for termination payments related to terminated purchase power contracts, to $40.2 million in pre-tax interest, or $26.1 million after taxes.

Nevada Power Company's net income in third quarter 2003 was $62.5 million, compared with $79.3 million for the same quarter in 2002. Sierra Pacific incurred a net loss of $1.3 million, compared with net income of $12.6 million for the comparable quarter the previous year.

"The third quarter saw some of the hottest weather on record including three new power consumption peaks established at both Nevada Power Company and Sierra Pacific Power Company,"said Walter M. Higgins, chairman and chief executive officer of Sierra Pacific Resources."Las Vegas remains the fastest growing city in the nation and northern Nevada is also among the top growth areas in the West. I'm proud to say that despite these challenges our two utilities continue to provide adequate and reliable supplies of electricity to meet our customers'needs."

Nevada Power
Interest charges on long term debt increased as the result of the adoption of SFAS No. 150,"Accounting for Certain Financial Instruments with Characteristics of Both Liabilities and Equity,"requiring the reclassification of the dividend requirement for Nevada Power Company's mandatorily redeemable preferred trust securities to interest charges on long-term debt. Interest charges on long-term debt for third quarter and nine month periods ending September 30, 2003 increased over the same periods in 2002. Additionally, interest charges on long-term debt increased due to the issuance in October 2002 of $250 million of Nevada Power's General and Refunding Mortgage Notes, at an interest rate of 10.875%, and the issuance in August 2003 of $350 million of Nevada Power's General and Refunding Mortgage Notes, at an interest rate of 9.00%. Also, the company experienced an increase in interest exposure on terminated contracts of $28 million, or $18 million after tax.

Sierra Pacific Power
For Sierra Pacific Power, interest charges for the three months ended September 30, 2003 increased slightly, compared to the same period in 2002. The company experienced higher interest expenses related to the issuance in October 2002 of $100 million of additional debt, plus an increase in interest on delayed/terminated contracts of $12 million, or $8 million after taxes. A detailed explanation of Sierra Pacific Resource's third quarter 2003 financial results is available in the company's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2003, which has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and is available without charge through the EDGAR system at the SEC's website.

The Form 10-Q report will also be posted on the Sierra Pacific Resources website:

http://www.sierrapacificresources.com

About Sierra Pacific Resources
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 a 50 percent interest in an interstate natural gas transmission partnership.

Forward-Looking Statements:
This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding the future performance of Sierra Pacific Resources and its subsidiaries, Nevada Power Company and Sierra Pacific Power Company, within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations. Sierra Pacific Resources'Nevada Power Company's and Sierra Pacific Power Company's liquidity and financial condition would be significantly adversely affected by a requirement to pay or provide additional cash collateral for the judgment in favor of Enron and by any future ratings downgrades by S&P or Moody's. For Sierra Pacific Resources, these risks and uncertainties also include, but are not limited to, Resources'ability to access the capital markets to refinance future debt maturities and for general corporate purposes, Resources'ability to receive dividends from its subsidiaries and the financial performance of the Company's subsidiaries, particularly Nevada Power Company and Sierra Pacific Power Company. For Nevada Power Company and Sierra Pacific Power Company, these risks and uncertainties also include, but are not limited to, unfavorable rulings in their pending and future rate cases, their ability to access the capital markets to refinance debt and for general corporate purposes, their ability to purchase sufficient power to meet their power demands, whether power suppliers, in addition to Enron which terminated power supply contracts in 2002, will be successful in pursuing claims against Nevada Power and Sierra Pacific Power for liquidated damages under their terminated power contracts and weather conditions during the wintermonths of 2003 and beyond. Additional cautionary statements regarding other risk factors that could have an effect on the future performance of Sierra Pacific Resources, Nevada Power Company and Sierra Pacific Power Company are contained in their Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2003, filed with the SEC. The Companies undertake no obligation to release publicly the result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

* Please refer to Note 6. Earnings Per Share (SPR) of Form 10Q for the quarterly period ended September 30, 2003. Amount was adjusted by adding interest expense of $4.7 million (net of tax) and subtracting the unrealized gain on derivative of $40 million (net of tax) included in net income for the three months ended September 30, 2003.

** Includes 65,749,110 shares for the Convertible Notes for the three month's ended September 30, 2003.