The conference call and presentation slides will be webcast live on El Paso Electric's website and through the following site:

Webcast Address: http://www.epelectric.com

A replay of the conference call and webcast will be available after the call ends. Please provide conference ID to access the replay.

Replay #:        866-837-8032
Conference ID#:  1260226
Replay end date: August 20, 2008

El Paso Electric is a regional electric utility providing generation, transmission and distribution service to approximately 361,000 retail and wholesale customers in a 10,000 square mile area of the Rio Grande valley in west Texas and southern New Mexico. El Paso Electric has a net dependable generating capability of 1,492 MW. El Paso Electric's common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol EE.

Safe Harbor

This news release includes statements that may constitute forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This information may involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: (i) increased prices for fuel and purchased power and the possibility that regulators may not permit EE to pass through all such increased costs to customers; (ii) determinations by regulators that may adversely affect EE's ability to recover previously incurred fuel costs in rates; (iii) fluctuations in off-system sales margins due to uncertainty in the economy power market and the availability of generating units; (iv) unanticipated increased costs associated with scheduled and unscheduled outages; (v) costs at Palo Verde, including additional costs relating to an enhanced NRC oversight and inspection regimen; (vi) the costs of legal defense and possible judgments which may accrue as the result of ongoing litigation or any regulatory proceeding; (vii) deregulation of the electric utility industry; (viii) reduced wholesale margins; (ix) possible increased costs of compliance with environmental or other laws, regulations and policies; (x) possible income tax and interest payments as a result of audit adjustments proposed by the IRS; (xi) possible warranty obligations attributable to MiraSol Energy Services, a subsidiary of EE; and (xii) other factors detailed by EE in its public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. EE's filings are available from the Securities and Exchange Commission or may be obtained through EE's website, www.epelectric.com. Any such forward-looking statement is qualified by reference to these risks and factors. EE cautions that these risks and factors are not exclusive. EE does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of EE except as required by law.

SOURCE: El Paso Electric

El Paso Electric
Media:
Teresa Souza, 915-543-5823
or
Analysts:
Rachelle Williams, 915-543-2257

The notes will be offered pursuant to an automatically effective shelf registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 20, 2008.

El Paso Electric is a regional electric utility providing generation, transmission and distribution service to approximately 357,000 retail and wholesale customers in a 10,000 square mile area of the Rio Grande valley in west Texas and southern New Mexico. EPE has a net dependable generating capability of 1,503 MW. EPE's common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol EE.

Important Information

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale is unlawful. The offering of the securities will be made only by means of a prospectus and a related prospectus supplement. When available, copies of the prospectus and prospectus supplement may be obtained from Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, Eleven Madison Avenue, New York New York (telephone number 212-325-2000).

Safe Harbor

This news release includes statements that may constitute forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This information may involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: (i) increased prices for fuel and purchased power and the possibility that regulators may not permit EE to pass through all such increased costs to customers; (ii) determinations by regulators that may adversely affect EE's ability to recover previously incurred fuel costs in rates; (iii) fluctuations in off-system sales margins due to uncertainty in the economy power market and the availability of generating units; (iv) unanticipated increased costs associated with scheduled and unscheduled outages; (v) costs at Palo Verde, including additional costs relating to an enhanced NRC oversight and inspection regimen; (vi) the costs of legal defense and possible judgments which may accrue as the result of ongoing litigation or any regulatory proceeding; (vii) deregulation of the electric utility industry; (viii) reduced wholesale margins; (ix) possible increased costs of compliance with environmental or other laws, regulations and policies; (x) possible income tax and interest payments as a result of audit adjustments proposed by the IRS; (xi) possible warranty obligations attributable to MiraSol Energy Services, a subsidiary of EE; and (xii) other factors detailed by EE in its public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. EE's filings are available from the Securities and Exchange Commission or may be obtained through EE's website, http://www.epelectric.com. Any such forward-looking statement is qualified by reference to these risks and factors. EE cautions that these risks and factors are not exclusive. EE does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of EE except as required by law.

SOURCE: El Paso Electric

El Paso Electric
Media: Teresa Souza, 915-543-5823
or
Analysts: Rachelle Williams, 915-543-2257

New Mexico's 19 rural electric cooperatives won't fall under the renewable energy requirement until 2015, although some are complying voluntarily. In 2015, cooperatives will be required to get 5% of their electricity from renewable sources; that goes to 10% in 2020.

FinancialWire" is a fully independent, proprietary news wire service of Investrend Information, a division of Investrend Communications, Inc. It is not a press release service and receives no compensation from any company for its news or opinions. All FinancialWire" news is available at http://www.financialwire.net . The FinancialWire" NewsFeed is available in multiple formats at http://www.investrend.com/XmlFeeds?level=268 . Please address any inquiries to feedback@financialwire.net .

Free annual reports for companies mentioned in the news are available at http://investrend.ar.wilink.com/?level=279 .

http://www.financialwire.net

Webcast Address: http://www.epelectric.com

El Paso Electric is a regional electric utility providing generation, transmission and distribution service to approximately 359,000 retail and wholesale customers in a 10,000 square mile area of the Rio Grande valley in west Texas and southern New Mexico. EPE has a net dependable generating capability of 1,492 MW. EPE's common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol EE.

Safe Harbor

This news release includes statements that may constitute forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This information may involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: (i) increased prices for fuel and purchased power and the possibility that regulators may not permit EE to pass through all such increased costs to customers; (ii) determinations by regulators that may adversely affect EE's ability to recover previously incurred fuel costs in rates; (iii) fluctuations in off-system sales margins due to uncertainty in the economy power market and the availability of generating units; (iv) unanticipated increased costs associated with scheduled and unscheduled outages; (v) the cost of replacing steam generators for Palo Verde Unit 3 and other costs at Palo Verde, including additional costs relating to an enhanced NRC oversight and inspection regimen; (vi) the costs of legal defense and possible judgments which may accrue as the result of ongoing litigation or any regulatory proceeding; (vii) deregulation of the electric utility industry; (viii) reduced wholesale margins; (ix) possible increased costs of compliance with environmental or other laws, regulations and policies; (x) possible income tax and interest payments as a result of audit adjustments proposed by the IRS; (xi) possible warranty obligations attributable to MiraSol Energy Services, a subsidiary of EE; (xii) a possible reduction in the reliability of our service and possible added expense in the event of a strike by, or lock out of, our union employees; and (xiii) other factors detailed by EE in its public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. EE's filings are available from the Securities and Exchange Commission or may be obtained through EE's website, www.epelectric.com. Any such forward-looking statement is qualified by reference to these risks and factors. EE cautions that these risks and factors are not exclusive. EE does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of EE except as required by law.

SOURCE: El Paso Electric

El Paso Electric
Media:
Teresa Souza, 915-543-5823
or
Analysts:
Rachelle Williams, 915-543-2257
www.epelectric.com