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             California Public Utilities Commission
505 Van Ness Avenue, Room 5301            San Francisco, CA 94102
CONTACT: Dianne Dienstein            October 18, 1995  CPUC - 94
         415-703-2423                               (A.94-08-043)

 CPUC APPROVES SIERRA PACIFIC AND WASHINGTON WATER POWER MERGER

    The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) today
authorized the merger of Sierra Pacific Power Company (Sierra),
its parent Sierra Pacific Resources, and Washington Water Power
Company (WWP) by approving a settlement between these companies
and the CPUC Division of Ratepayer Advocates.  The merger is
expected to be completed on or before January 1, 1996.  The
merged company, Resources West Energy Corporation, is in the
process of changing its name to Altus Corporation and will
operate Sierra and WWP as separate divisions.
    Customers will benefit immediately through a reduction in
Sierra's electric rates of 7.3 percent or $3.1 million, and then
through the subsequent freeze of both electric and gas rates
through 1999, in the absence of unforeseeable events.
    The Commission also approved the underlying securities
transaction and debt assumption, authorized Resources West to
adopt Sierra's and WWP's tariff filings, and approved the
transfer to Resources West of all certificates of public
convenience and necessity currently held by Sierra and WWP.
    Sierra, headquartered in Reno, Nevada, is a wholly-owned
subsidiary of Sierra Pacific Resources, an exempt holding
company.  Sierra's utility operations are 97 percent of Sierra
Pacific Resources' consolidated assets.  Sierra serves 214,000
electric customers in Nevada and 42,000 in the Lake Tahoe region
of California.  It also serves 85,000 natural gas customers and
58,000 water customers in and near Reno and Sparks, Nevada.
Annual California revenue in 1994 was $45 million.
                            - more -
    WWP is headquartered in Spokane, Washington and provides gas
service to 15,000 California customers in El Dorado County,
electric service to 264,000 Washington and Idaho customers, and
natural gas service to 170,000 natural customers in Washington,
Idaho, and Oregon.
    The newly-formed Resources West will be qualified to operate
in California, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Nevada.  It
will provide electric service to 520,000 customers, gas service
to 270,000 customers, and water service to 58,000 customers.
    Sierra and WWP shareholders will exchange their shares of
stock for shares of Resources West.  Each outstanding share of
Sierra Pacific Resources will be converted into 1.44 shares of
Resources West common stock.  Each outstanding share of WWP will
be converted into one share of Resources West common stock.
    In addition to shareholder approvals, the utilities must
receive approval for the merger from public utility regulatory
commissions in each of the states Resources West will operate in,
the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the Securities and
Exchange Commission.  They also must file with the Federal Trade
Commission and Department of Justice.
    The utilities believe the merger will allow them to
participate more effectively in the increasingly competitive
energy market, and for the period 1996 - 2005, they anticipate
$497 million in merger-related savings, due primarily to reduced
administrative and general expenses.  They estimate net savings
of $450 million - about 2 percent of the combined utilities'
annual revenues.  The California electric and gas systems will
receive 4.5 percent and 1 percent respectively of the merger
savings.  The rate freeze effectively passes these savings on to
customers.

                               ###