Media Contact: Andrea Smith, (702) 367-5843
Analyst Contact: Britta Carlson, (702) 367-5624

Sierra Pacific Resources (NYSE: SRP) announced today that it has agreed to issue 20,000,000 shares of its common stock to Deutsche Bank Securities.  The shares have been registered on Sierra Pacific Resources' shelf registration statement and settlement is expected to occur on or about August 14, 2006.  Sierra Pacific Resources has granted Deutsche Bank Securities a 30-day option to purchase up to 3,000,000 additional shares to cover any over-allotments of shares.  The final terms of the offering, including the amount of the net proceeds to be received by Sierra Pacific Resources, will be disclosed in the final prospectus to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  The last reported sale price on the New York Stock Exchange of Sierra Pacific Resources' common stock on August 9, 2006 was $14.50 per share.

Sierra Pacific Resources intends to use the net proceeds of the offering to make a capital contribution to its subsidiary, Nevada Power Company, of at least $200 million to be used to repay indebtedness. The remaining proceeds will be invested in short-term instruments until used for additional capital contributions to either or both of Sierra Pacific Resources'subsidiaries, Nevada Power Company and Sierra Pacific Power Company, for the repayment of a portion of indebtedness, and/or for general corporate purposes.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities. The offering is being made only by means of a prospectus and related prospectus supplement, a copy of which may be obtained from Deutsche Bank Securities by mail at 1251 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019, by telephone at (800) 503-4611, or by e-mail atprospectusrequest@list.db.com.

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.

Certain matters in this press release are forward-looking statements 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. Additional cautionary statements regarding other risk factors that could have an effect on the future performance of Sierra Pacific Resources are contained in its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2006 and its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Sierra Pacific Resources undertakes 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.