Sierra Pacific Power Company announced today that its customers in the Reno-Sparks area hit an all-time peak for natural gas consumption over a 24-hour period, beginning on Monday, November 29, 2004. Customers consumed 125,531,000 cubic feet of natural gas for the 24-hour period beginning Monday at 7 a.m. and ending at 7 a.m. Tuesday.

Several days of near-record cold temperatures and growth in the number of customers were the major factors for the natural gas consumption record. The previous all-time peak usage in the Reno-Sparks area was established December 22, 1998, when customers consumed 118,962,000 cubic feet of natural gas over a 24-hour period.

"It is unusual this early in the winter season to be seeing such high natural gas usage but we've experienced some unusually cold temperatures over the past two days,"said Greg Kern, Director of Gas Distribution for Sierra Pacific Power."Typically most peak natural gas consumption occurs later in the heating season."

Kern said that Sierra Pacific had no problems in meeting customer demands due to work completed this past year to upgrade gas facilities serving the northern valley communities of Lemmon Valley, Stead and Cold Springs. The company has also installed a new 18-inch gas main to serve the south Truckee Meadows area.

Sierra Pacific Power Company serves approximately 135,000 natural gas customers in the Reno-Sparks area.