Sierra Geothermal Awarded US$10 Million of DOE Grants

Sierra Geothermal Power Corp. (TSX VENTURE:SRA) ("SGP") today announced that its
wholly owned US subsidiary, Sierra Geothermal Power Inc., has been awarded two
grants totalling US$10 million by the US Department of Energy ("DOE"). The grant
program, specifically targeting new investments in geothermal power, was
announced on May 27, 2009 as part of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act
and gives preference to activities that can rapidly assist in economic recovery.


The grants have been awarded under the DOE's Geothermal Technologies Program
Funding Opportunity Announcements ("FOAs") and will contribute US$5 million
toward drilling and exploration activities on each of SGP's Silver Peak and Alum
projects within SGP's Paymaster District, on a 50:50 cost share basis. The
grants will provide a portion of the funding required to move these projects to
feasibility.


Gary R. Thompson, President and CEO, said, "We are extremely pleased that the
DOE has recognised the suitability of our advanced stage Silver Peak and Alum
projects as candidates for these FOA awards. As both projects are drill-ready we
anticipate quickly utilising this grant funding to bring us closer to our goal
of becoming an independent producer of geothermal power by 2012."


About Sierra Geothermal Power Corp.

Sierra Geothermal Power Corp. is a renewable energy company focused on the
exploration and development of clean, sustainable geothermal power. It is based
in Vancouver, British Columbia and listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the
symbol SRA. Its portfolio of geothermal projects located in Nevada and
California exceeds 365 square kilometres (90,000 acres) and has a combined total
estimated capacity of greater than 500 MW. SGP intends to finance development by
utilizing a combination of corporate equity, joint venture partnerships and
project debt, with the support of US government grants and loan guarantees. To
find out more about Sierra Geothermal Power Corp. (TSX VENTURE:SRA) visit our
website at www.sierrageopower.com.


About the Silver Peak Geothermal Power Project

The Silver Peak geothermal power project is located in Esmeralda County, Nevada,
240 kilometres (150 miles) northwest of Las Vegas, and covers 7,233 acres.
GeothermEx's independent analysis estimates a resource capacity of 15-40 MW of
power. The Silver Peak property has two 55 kV transmission lines connecting to
the Nevada and California power grids and a substation located on the lease
itself. Many geothermal features are visible on the property including
geothermal vents, silica sinter deposits and algae mats. Also present are
shallow warm to hot wells with temperatures up to 75 degrees Celsius (167
degrees Fahrenheit) at depths less than 21 metres (70 feet). Chemical
geothermometers that have been applied to the thermal waters suggest that
temperatures may reach 200-230 degrees Celsius (400-440 degrees Fahrenheit) at
depth.


About the Alum Geothermal Power Project

The Alum geothermal power project is located in Esmeralda County, Nevada, 240
kilometres (150 miles) northwest of Las Vegas, and covers 7,198 acres.
GeothermEx's 2008 independent report on the Alum anomaly as a whole provided a
ninety percent probability of generating 73 MW and a fifty percent probability
of generating 150 MW. Exploration to date at Alum includes 48 temperature
gradient wells drilled to a maximum depth of 600 metres with bottom-hole
temperatures of 120 degrees Celsius. Recent gravity geophysics and detailed
structural mapping combined with the gradient drilling data have identified many
favorable drilling targets on the Alum property. Chemical geothermometry
analysis of boiling water samples on the project indicates commercial resource
temperatures of 150 to 225 degrees Celsius. A 70 MW geothermal resource can
generate enough power to supply 56,000 homes.


On behalf of the Board of Directors

Gary Thompson, P.Geo, President, Chief Executive Officer and Director

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements are projections of events, revenues, income, future economic
performance or management's plans and objectives for future operations. In some
cases you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of terminology such
as "may", "should", "anticipates", "believes", "expects", "intends",
"forecasts", "plans", "future", "strategy", or words of similar meaning.
Forward-looking statements in this press release include statements about
anticipating quickly utilising this grant funding to bring us closer to our goal
of becoming an independent producer of geothermal power by 2012, and the
Company's intent to finance the development of its projects through a
combination of corporate equity, joint venture partnerships and project debt
with the support of U.S. government grants and loan guarantees. These statements
are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and
other factors, including the risks inherent in our industry, the challenging
capital markets and other risks identified by us in our periodic filings on
SEDAR (which can be viewed at www.sedar.com). Any of these risks could cause our
or our industry's actual results, levels of activity, performance or
achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of
activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these
forward-looking statements.


While these forward-looking statements and any assumptions upon which they are
based are made in good faith and reflect our current judgment regarding the
direction of its business, actual results will almost always vary, sometimes
materially, from any estimates, predictions, projections, assumptions or other
future performance suggested in this press release. Except as required by
applicable law, including the securities laws of Canada, we do not intend to
update any of the forward-looking statements to conform these statements to
actual results.