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Sierra Pacific Power Company, doing business as NV Energy (NYSE:NVE), today made its annual electric and natural gas filings with the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN) calling for an overall 10.19 percent decrease in electric rates for northern Nevada customers and an overall 4.6 percent decrease in natural gas rates for Reno-Sparks customers.

"Major company initiatives, like the completion of the state-of-the-art Tracy Combined Cycle Generating Station are paying dividends for customers with lower electric prices,"said Mary Simmons, Vice President of External Affairs for NV Energy."The plant is one-third more efficient in producing electricity than other conventional gas-fired power plants."

Simmons explained that prices in the energy markets have also declined, meaning fuel to generate electricity costs less and these savings are passed on to customers in the form of lower electric rates.  The same is true for natural gas, which the company purchases on behalf of its gas customers.

According to state law, costs for fuel and purchased power are passed along to customers dollar-for-dollar, with no profit for the company.  Following review and hearings by the PUCN, the proposed decreases are scheduled to become effective October 1, 2010.

"With this proposal we are seeking to roll back electric and natural gas rates to 2005 levels,"Simmons said.

The decreases filed today are in addition to four consecutive quarterly electric rate decreases for NV Energy customers during 2009, which resulted in savings of approximately $12 each month, or a $140 yearly savings.  Under today's proposal, the typical residential customer using 740 kilowatt hours of electricity per month, would see an additional savings of nearly $9 per month (from $95.51 to $86.81).

Natural gas rates ended 2009 at approximately $6.60 less per month than at the beginning of the year.   Today's request would further reduce the typical residential customer's bill using 59 therms of gas by an additional $3 per month (from $69.79 to $66.63).

Headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, NV Energy, Inc. is a holding company whose principal subsidiaries, Nevada Power Company and Sierra Pacific Power Company, are doing business as NV Energy.  NV Energy serves approximately 320,000 electric customers in northern Nevada and 149,000 natural gas customers in the Reno-Sparks area.