May 12, 2000
Sierra Pacific Resources
Contact: Sonya Headen / Karl Walquist
Phone: (702) 367-5680 / (775) 834-3891

For Immediate Release

(Las Vegas) -- Nevada Power Company, a subsidiary of Sierra Pacific Resources (NYSE:SRP), announced today that it has agreed to sell its 14 percent interest in the Mohave Generating Station in Laughlin, Nevada, to the AES Corporation. AES also executed a sales agreement with Southern California Edison Company (SCE) for a 56 percent interest in the 1,580 megawatt Mohave Generating Station, giving AES a 70 percent undivided interest in the facility. The remaining interests are owned by the City of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (20 percent) and Salt River Project (10 percent). SCE is currently the operator of the generating station.

The sale of generation assets is a condition of Nevada Power's merger with Sierra Pacific Resources, which was completed in July 1999.

"Sale of our interest in the Mohave Generating Station is the first of what we anticipate will be a smooth and orderly sale of all of our generation assets in Nevada," said Michael R. Niggli, chairman and chief executive officer of Sierra Pacific Resources."This will jump start competition in the state by allowing energy production and sales by new alternative sellers and providers. In addition, completing divestiture will further our goal of becoming a premier transmission and distribution company."

The sale, which is subject to approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and review by the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada, is expected to close late in the fourth quarter of 2000.

Mohave Generating Station is a two-unit, coal-fired power plant located on 2,500 acres along the Colorado River, approximately 80 miles south of Las Vegas. It is the largest coal-fired facility in Nevada. The station provides electricity to growing markets including Phoenix, Las Vegas and Southern California.

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

AES Corporation, based in Arlington, Virginia, is a leading global power company whose business interests include generation, distribution and retail energy supplies in the United States and 17 countries worldwide.