Document:

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                                                                   Exhibit 4.4

         NOTE: THE HOLDER OF THIS BOND BY ACCEPTANCE HEREOF AGREES TO
RESTRICTIONS ON TRANSFER, TO WAIVERS OF CERTAIN RIGHTS OF EXCHANGE, AND TO
INDEMNIFICATION PROVISIONS AS SET FORTH BELOW. IN ADDITION, THE BOND REPRESENTED
BY THIS CERTIFICATE HAS NOT BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933 AND
SUCH BOND MAY NOT BE TRANSFERRED WITHOUT COMPLIANCE WITH APPLICABLE SECURITIES
LAWS.

         THIS BOND IS NOT TRANSFERABLE EXCEPT TO A SUCCESSOR OR ASSIGN OF THE
ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT UNDER THE LOAN AGREEMENT REFERRED TO HEREIN AMONG THE
COMPANY AND THE SEVERAL PARTIES THERETO.

                          SIERRA PACIFIC POWER COMPANY

     General and Refunding Mortgage Bonds, Series C, due October 31, 2005

<TABLE>
<S>                              <C>                <C>
Original Interest Accrual Date:  October 30, 2002   Redeemable by Company:  Yes [ ] No [X]
Stated Maturity:                 October 31, 2005   Redemption Date:  N/A
Interest Rate:                   See below          Redemption Price: N/A
Interest Payment Dates:          See below
Regular Record Dates:            N/A
</TABLE>

                    This Security is not a Discount Security
              within the meaning of the within-mentioned Indenture.

                      ------------------------------------

Principal Amount
$100,000,000                                                            No. C-1

         SIERRA PACIFIC POWER COMPANY, a corporation duly organized and existing
under the laws of the State of Nevada (herein called the "Company," which term
includes any successor corporation under the Indenture referred to below), for
value received, hereby promises to pay to LEHMAN COMMERCIAL PAPER INC., as
Administrative Agent (the "Administrative Agent"), or its registered assigns, on
behalf of itself and the Lenders (as defined below), the principal sum of ONE
HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS, or such lesser principal amount as shall be equal to
the aggregate principal amount of Loans (as defined in the Loan Agreement
defined below) outstanding from time to time under the Loan Agreement (as
defined below), in whole or in installments on such date or dates as the Company
has any obligations under the Loan Agreement to repay any Loans to the Lenders
(whether upon scheduled maturity, optional prepayment, required prepayment,
acceleration, demand or otherwise), but not later than the Stated Maturity
specified above.

         The amount of principal of this Bond payable by the Company on any such
date shall equal the aggregate principal amount of the Loans due and payable on
such date pursuant to the Loan Agreement (but, in no event, shall exceed the
principal amount of this Bond). The obligation of the Company to
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make any payment of the principal on this Bond shall be fully or partially, as
the case may be, deemed to have been paid or otherwise satisfied and discharged
to the extent that the Company has paid the principal then due and payable on
the Loans made pursuant to the Loan Agreement.

         Interest shall be payable on this Bond on each Interest Payment Date
(as hereinafter defined) at such rate per annum as shall cause the amount of
interest payable on such Interest Payment Date on this Bond to equal the amount
of interest, fees or such other amounts payable by the Company on such Interest
Payment Date under the Loan Agreement. Such interest shall be payable on the
same dates as interest, fees or such other amounts are payable by the Company
from time to time under to the Loan Agreement (each such date herein called an
"Interest Payment Date"), until the maturity of this Bond, or, if the
Administrative Agent shall demand redemption of this Bond, until the redemption
date, or, if the Company shall default in the payment of the principal due on
this Bond, until the Company's obligation with respect to the payment of such
principal shall be discharged as provided in the Indenture. The amount of
interest, fees or such other amounts payable by the Company from time to time
under the Loan Agreement, the basis on which such interest, fees and such other
amounts are computed and the dates on which such interest fees and such other
amounts are payable are set forth in the Loan Agreement. This Bond shall bear
interest (a) from the most recent Interest Payment Date, or (b) if no interest
has been paid on this Bond, then from the date of initial authentication of this
Bond. The obligation of the Company to make any payment of interest on this Bond
shall be fully or partially, as the case may be, deemed to have been paid or
otherwise satisfied and discharged to the extent that the Company has paid the
interest on the Loans and fees then due and payable pursuant to the Loan
Agreement.

         This Bond is issued to the Administrative Agent by the Company pursuant
to the Company's obligations under the Term Loan Agreement, dated as of October
30, 2002 (as amended, supplemented, restated or otherwise modified from time to
time, the "Loan Agreement"), among the Company, Lehman Brothers Inc., as
advisor, sole lead arranger and sole bookrunner, the Administrative Agent,
Lehman Commercial Paper Inc., as syndication agent and the other financial
institutions or entities party thereto from time to time (the "Lenders"). This
Bond shall be held by the Administrative Agent subject to the terms of the Bond
Delivery Agreement, dated as of October 30, 2002, between the Company and the
Administrative Agent. Any capitalized terms used herein and not defined herein
shall have the meanings specified in the Indenture (as defined below), unless
otherwise noted.

         If a Default (as defined in the Loan Agreement) shall have occurred
under Section 7(a) of the Loan Agreement by reason of a failure by the Company
to make a payment of principal of any Loans when the same shall be due and
payable by the Company under to the Loan Agreement, it shall be deemed to be a
default, for purposes of Section 10.01(b) of the Indenture, in payment of an
amount of principal of this Bond equal to the amount of such unpaid principal of
the Loans (but, in no event, in excess of the principal amount of this Bond). If
a Default (as defined in the Loan Agreement) shall have occurred under Section
7(a) of the Loan Agreement by reason of a failure by the Company to make a
payment of interest, fees or such other amounts when the same shall be due and
payable by the Company pursuant to the Loan Agreement, it shall be deemed to be
a default, for purposes of Section 10.01(a) of the Indenture, in the payment of
an amount of interest on this Bond equal to the amount of such unpaid interest
on the Loans, fees and such other amounts. The Administrative Agent shall
surrender this Bond to the Trustee when all of the principal of and interest on
the Loans made pursuant to the Loan Agreement shall have been duly paid, all
fees payable by the Company under the Loan Agreement shall have been duly paid,
and the Loan Agreement shall have been terminated.

         Payments of the principal of and interest on this Bond shall be made at
the Corporate Trust Office of The Bank of New York located at 101 Barclay
Street, 8W, New York, New York 10286 or at such other office or agency as may be
designated for such purpose by the Company from time to time.

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Payment of the principal of and interest on this Bond, as aforesaid, shall be
made in such coin or currency of the United States of America as at the time of
payment shall be legal tender for the payment of public and private debts.

         This Bond is one of a duly authorized issue of securities of the
Company (herein called the "Securities"), issued and issuable in one or more
series under and equally secured by a General and Refunding Mortgage Indenture,
dated as of May 1, 2001 (such Indenture as originally executed and delivered and
as supplemented or amended from time to time thereafter, together with any
constituent instruments establishing the terms of particular Securities, being
herein called the "Indenture"), between the Company and The Bank of New York, as
trustee (herein called the "Trustee," which term includes any successor trustee
under the Indenture), to which Indenture and all indentures supplemental thereto
reference is hereby made for a description of the property mortgaged, pledged
and held in trust, the nature and extent of the security and the respective
rights, limitations of rights, duties and immunities of the Company, the Trustee
and the Holders of the Securities thereunder and of the terms and conditions
upon which the Securities are, and are to be, authenticated and delivered and
secured. The acceptance of this Bond shall be deemed to constitute the consent
and agreement by the Holder hereof to all of the terms and provisions of the
Indenture. This Bond is one of the series designated above.

         The Bonds of this series will not be entitled to the benefit of any
sinking fund or optional redemption provisions.

         If an Event of Default, as defined in the Indenture, shall occur and be
continuing, the principal of this Bond may be declared due and payable in the
manner and with the effect provided in the Indenture.

         The Indenture permits, with certain exceptions as therein provided, the
Trustee to enter into one or more supplemental indentures for the purpose of
adding any provisions to, or changing in any manner or eliminating any of the
provisions of, the Indenture with the consent of the Holders of not less than a
majority in aggregate principal amount of the Securities of all series then
Outstanding under the Indenture, considered as one class; provided, however,
that if there shall be Securities of more than one series Outstanding under the
Indenture and if a proposed supplemental indenture shall directly affect the
rights of the Holders of Securities of one or more, but less than all, of such
series, then the consent only of the Holders of a majority in aggregate
principal amount of the Outstanding Securities of all series so directly
affected, considered as one class, shall be required; and provided, further,
that if the Securities of any series shall have been issued in more than one
Tranche and if the proposed supplemental indenture shall directly affect the
rights of the Holders of Securities of one or more, but less than all, of such
Tranches, then the consent only of the Holders of a majority in aggregate
principal amount of the Outstanding Securities of all Tranches so directly
affected, considered as one class, shall be required; and provided, further,
that the Indenture permits the Trustee to enter into one or more supplemental
indentures for limited purposes without the consent of any Holders of
Securities. The Indenture also contains provisions permitting the Holders of a
majority in principal amount of the Securities then Outstanding, on behalf of
the Holders of all Securities, to waive compliance by the Company with certain
provisions of the Indenture and certain past defaults under the Indenture and
their consequences. Any such consent or waiver by the Holder of this Bond shall
be conclusive and binding upon such Holder and upon all future Holders of this
Bond and of any Security issued upon the registration of transfer hereof or in
exchange therefor or in lieu hereof, whether or not notation of such consent or
waiver is made upon this Bond.

         As provided in the Indenture and subject to certain limitations therein
set forth, the transfer of this Bond is registrable in the Security Register,
upon surrender of this Bond for registration of transfer at the Corporate Trust
Office of The Bank of New York in New York, New York or such other office or
agency as may be designated by the Company from time to time, duly endorsed by,
or accompanied by a written

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instrument of transfer in form satisfactory to the Company and the Security
Registrar duly executed by, the Holder hereof or his attorney duly authorized in
writing, and thereupon one or more new Bonds of this series of authorized
denominations and of like tenor and aggregate principal amount, will be issued
to the designated transferee or transferees.

         This Bond has been issued by the Company to the Administrative Agent to
(i) provide for the payment of the Company's obligations to make payments to any
person under the Loan Agreement and (ii) provide to such persons the benefits of
the security provided for this Bond pursuant to the Indenture.

         The Company, the Trustee and any agent of the Company or the Trustee

may deem and treat the person in whose name this Bond shall be registered upon
the Security Register for the Bonds of this series as the absolute owner of such
Bond for the purpose of receiving payment of or on account of the principal of
and interest on this Bond and for all other purposes, whether or not this Bond
be overdue, and neither the Company nor the Trustee shall be affected by any
notice to the contrary; and all such payments so made to such registered owner
or upon his order shall be valid and effectual to satisfy and discharge the
liability upon this Bond to the extent of the sum or sums paid.

         The Trustee may conclusively presume that the obligation of the Company
to pay the principal of and interest on this Bond shall have been fully
satisfied and discharged unless and until it shall have received a written
notice from the Administrative Agent, signed by an authorized officer of the
Administrative Agent and attested by the Secretary or an Assistant Secretary of
the Administrative Agent, stating that the payment of principal of or interest
on this Bond has not been fully paid when due and specifying the amount of funds
required to make such payment.

         Before any transfer of this Bond by the registered holder or his or its
legal representative will be recognized or given effect by the Company or the
Trustee, the registered holder shall note the amounts of all reductions in the
principal payments under the Loan Agreement, and shall notify the Company and
the Trustee of the name and address of the transferee and shall afford the
Company and the Trustee the opportunity of verifying the notation as to such
reductions. By acceptance hereof the holder of this Bond and each transferee
shall be deemed to have agreed to indemnify and hold harmless the Company and
the Trustee against all losses, claims, damages or liability arising out of any
failure on part of the holder or of any such transferee to comply with the
requirements of the preceding sentence.

         No recourse under or upon any obligation, covenant or agreement
contained in the Indenture or in any indenture supplemental thereto, or in any
Bond or coupon thereby secured, or because of any indebtedness thereby secured,
shall be had against any incorporator, or against any past, present or future
stockholder, officer or director, as such, of the Company or any successor
corporation, either directly or through the Company or of any successor
corporation under any rule of law, statute or constitutional provision or by the
enforcement of any assessment or by any legal or equitable proceeding or
otherwise; it being expressly agreed and understood that the Indenture, any
indenture supplemental thereto and the obligations thereby secured, are solely
corporate obligations, and that no personal liability whatsoever shall attach
to, or be incurred by, such incorporators, stockholders, officers or directors,
as such, of the Company or of any successor corporation, or any of them, because
of the incurring of the indebtedness thereby authorized, or under or by reason
of any of the obligations, covenants or agreements contained in the Indenture or
in any indenture supplemental thereto or in any of the Bonds or coupons thereby
secured, or implied therefrom.

         This Bond shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the
laws of the State of New York.

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         Unless the certificate of authentication hereon has been executed by
the Trustee or an Authenticating Agent by manual signature, this Bond shall not
be entitled to any benefit under the Indenture or be valid or obligatory for any
purpose.

           [The remainder of this page is intentionally left blank.]

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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Company has caused this instrument to be duly executed.

                          SIERRA PACIFIC POWER COMPANY

                        By: ___________________________________________________
                            Name:  Richard K. Atkinson
                            Title: Treasurer and Investor Relations Officer

                          CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICATION

         This is one of the Securities of the series designated therein referred
to in the within-mentioned Indenture.

Dated: October __, 2002

                        THE BANK OF NEW YORK, as Trustee

                        By: ___________________________________________________
                             Authorized Signatory

                                        6<PAGE>
                                                                    Exhibit 10.1

May 21, 2002

Mr. Donald L. "Pat" Shalmy
379 Placer Creek Lane
Henderson NV 89014

Dear Pat,

On behalf of the Board of Directors, I am pleased to offer you employment as
Senior Vice President, Nevada Power. Your work location will be at Sierra
Pacific - Nevada Power headquarters in Las Vegas, Nevada. You will report
directly to me in this position. We expect that you will assume your duties as
soon as possible.

Your starting base salary in this position will be $300,000. You will also be
eligible for an annual cash incentive, Short Term Incentive Program (STIP), of
45% (target) of your base salary. Payment of the Short Term Incentive is at the
discretion of the Board of Directors and is based on corporate, business unit
and personal performance. Actual payout may vary from 0% to 150% of target. Your
participation for 2002 will be prorated from your start date.

Long-term incentives for this position are in accordance with the plan approved
by the shareholders and administered by the Board of Directors. At this time,
long-term incentives consist of Non-Qualified Stock Options (NQSO's) and
performance shares. For your position the long-term incentive is targeted at 75%
of your base salary, 60% delivered through NQSO's and 40% delivered through
Performance Shares. The NQSO's vest one-third per year and are fully vested
after the third year. Performance shares have a three-year term and are earned
based on measures established by the Board for each grant. You will also be
eligible to participate on a pro-rata basis (31 of 36 months) in the 2002-2004
Performance Share grant made earlier this year. In addition you will also be
able to participate in the 2001-2003 Performance Share grant for the remaining
19 of the original 36 months.

As a special inducement for you to join SPR, the Board has also authorized the
following incentives. A one-time signing bonus of $25,000, gross amount before
taxes. In addition, you will receive a special stock option grant of 25,000
NQSO's at a strike price to be set based on the closing stock price on the day
you accept this offer by signing it and informing me that you have done so.
These options will vest at the end of one year, or upon change of control if
such an event were to occur before the end of one year. As a Senior Vice
President, you will be expected to achieve and maintain one and a half times
your annual compensation in SPR stock. You will have five years to achieve this
level.

Should an event occur on or before December 31, 2002, which would constitute a
change of control or potential change of control (as defined under the terms of
company's senior executive change of control plan), and if your employment is
terminated or you are notified that it will be

                                       1
<PAGE>

terminated, you will be eligible to receive one year's base pay plus target
annual incentive, upon termination, unless your employment is terminated for (1)
reasons relating to moral turpitude, (2) conviction of any crime amounting to a
felony, or (3) on you own volition and without actually being requested to
resign by the Board. This payment shall be conditioned on the execution of
appropriate releases in favor of the Company for any and all claims connected
with or arising out of your employment or termination and will require continued
maintenance of confidential and proprietary information, a non-compete for one
year and agreement not to disparage the Company. Beginning January 1, 2003 you
will be eligible for inclusion within the company's senior executive change of
control plan.

You will be eligible to participate in the Company's Supplemental Executive
Retirement Plan (SERP) and eligible for benefits under this Plan including a
maximum benefit of 50% of your Final Average Earnings.

The Company will also provide you life insurance coverage of $400,000 contingent
upon completion of a physical exam performed by a doctor selected by our
insurance carrier. This will be in addition to a $1,000,000 policy in the event
that you die while traveling on Company business and company provided group life
insurance equivalent to 1.5 times your annual salary.

You will be eligible for all regular employee benefits including a 401K plan
that matches employee contributions dollar for dollar up to 6% and SPR's
Deferred Compensation Plan. You will receive a perquisite allowance of $15,000
to cover such expenses as a car, tax preparation and club memberships. You will
receive paid time off (PTO) based on your total years of professional work
experience (40). Your annual paid time off allowance will be 33.4 days, plus 11
paid holidays. In 2002, PTO will be pro rated based on your hire date.

In addition to the benefits described above, in the event you are terminated for
reasons other than (1) reasons relating to moral turpitude, (2) conviction of
any crime amounting to a felony, or (3) on you own volition and without actually
being requested to resign by the Board, you will receive within thirty days of
termination, one year of base salary. This payment shall be conditioned on the
execution of appropriate releases in favor of the Company for any and all claims
connected with or arising out of your employment or termination and will require
continued maintenance of confidential and proprietary information, a non-compete
for one year and agreement not to disparage the Company.

As is Sierra's policy, all hiring offers are contingent on a drug analysis test.
We can arrange for you to have this test at a time and place convenient for you.
Also you will need to provide us proof of U.S. Citizenship on your first day of
work. This could include a copy of your Birth Certificate, Driver's License or
Social Security Card.

The position being offered to you is one of trust and confidence. In accepting
the position you are agreeing that, in addition to any other limitation and
regardless of the circumstances or any future limitation of your employment, you
will not communicate to any person, firm or other entity any knowledge relating
to documents, transactions or any other confidential knowledge which you might
acquire with respect to the business of Sierra Pacific Resources or any of its
affiliated companies.

To indicate acceptance of this offer, please sign below and return one signed
original of this letter to me as soon as possible. If you have questions about
elements of this offer, you may call me or discuss them with Victor H. Pena,
Senior Vice President and CAO.

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<PAGE>
On behalf of the board and the senior officers of the company, I am delighted
that you have accepted the opportunity to join Nevada Power and the Sierra
Pacific team. We believe, with your leadership, expertise and dedication we will
accomplish great results for our shareholders, customers, employees and
communities. Welcome!

Sincerely,

Walter M. Higgins

                                             Accepted:

                                             _________________________________
                                             Donald L. "Pat" Shalmy

                                             Date ____________________________

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