SAN FRANCISCO (Standard&Poor's) July 24, 2006--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said that the decision by the Supreme Court of Nevada, which effectively allows Nevada Power Co. (NPC) to recover about $180 million in purchased power costs related to the 2000-2001 Western power crisis, is favorable to credit quality but will not affect ratings at present. The Public Utility Commissions of Nevada (PUCN) originally held in 2002 that the amount should be disallowed, owing to NPC's failure to enter into a contract with Merrill Lynch to purchase power before the onset of the crisis. Although any cost recovery will clearly be a positive for NPC, which faces a large capital expenditure program over the next several years, the PUCN
