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Company Honored for Support of National Guard and Reserve

Las Vegas, Nev.  --  Sierra Pacific Resources (NSYE:SRP), has received the 2007 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award from the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), an agency of the Department of Defense.  Representatives of the company will accept the award at a ceremony on Sept. 12, in Washington, D.C.

“It is our duty to support our employees and the other men and women who willingly serve to protect our freedom,” said Walter Higgins, chairman and chief executive officer of Sierra Pacific Resources. Ã¢â‚¬Å“We are extremely proud of our employees and equally as pleased to accept this award in their honor.”

Sierra Pacific Resources is one of 15 recipients of this year's award which honors employers that provide outstanding support, above the requirements of federal law, to their employees who serve in the National Guard and Reserve.  It is the highest in a series of Department of Defense employer awards that include the Patriot Award, ESGR Above and Beyond Award and the Pro Patria Award. 

Higgins, who retired as a captain after 29 years in the U.S. Navy, also noted that Sierra Pacific Resources provides support through a number of activities and programs that recognize military service.  They include full pay during military service, the continuation of benefits for employees and family members, as well as training for managers on the Uniformed Services Employment and Re-Employment Rights Act.  Over the last five years, at least 27 Sierra Pacific Resources employees have served in the military, including the current commanders of the Nevada Army National Guard and the Nevada Air National Guard.  Sierra Pacific Resources has also signed a 5-Star Statement of Support, received numerous ESGR Patriot Awards and the Above and Beyond Award.

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.