Operating procedures
Operating procedures implement the policies and authorities contained in the California ISO Tariff and business practice manuals. We provide public access to current versions of the operating procedures, which do not contain information that is system security sensitive, market sensitive or third party proprietary.
Operating procedures are intended to guide ISO stakeholders regarding the implementation of rules and policies specified in the California ISO Tariff.
Terms of access
Actual ISO operations are based upon system conditions and prudent practice. System conditions may warrant deviation from written procedures. The shift manager will determine the need for such deviation. The ISO reserves the sole right to revise or edit these procedures in accordance with Operating Procedure 5510.
The following information is not available in this public posting of the ISO operating procedures due to security or confidentiality reasons: third party operating procedures and unit specific data is not being provided pending ISO and third party confidentiality review; names and phone numbers are excluded for privacy and security reasons; and emergency restoration procedures are not included due to security considerations.
Balancing authority area procedures
All publicly available procedures are posted here grouped by series. For a complete list of operating procedures, view the Operating Procedures Index List.
Draft and future effective operating procedures
1000-2000 series - balancing area operations
1200 - Day-ahead market
- 1210 Day-Ahead Market 10/01/2025, 10:10 AM
1500 - Interchange management
- 1510 Pre-schedule and Check-out Validation 10/09/2025, 8:34 AM
2200 - Real-time market
- 2210 Real-Time Market Activities 01/29/2026, 9:34 AM
- 2210D Ancillary Service Blocking and Disqualification 07/01/2024, 9:25 AM
- 2210Z Effectiveness Factors - All 12/18/2025, 9:14 AM
2300-2400 - procurement and commitment adjustments
- 2310 Real-Time Reliability Must Run Unit Commitment and Dispatch 01/02/2024, 11:24 AM
- 2330 Real-Time Exceptional Dispatch 12/18/2025, 9:14 AM
- 2330C Exceptional Dispatch Instruction Type Codes 01/29/2026, 9:34 AM
- 2340 Ancillary Service Availability Validation 10/01/2025, 10:11 AM
- 2390 Over-supply/Over-generation 10/23/2025, 8:26 AM
2500 - Interchange management
- 2510 NERC and CAISO Tagging Requirements 10/01/2025, 10:11 AM
- 2510A POR/POD-Scheduling Path Cross-Reference 01/29/2026, 9:34 AM
- 2510B CAISO Tagging Templates 01/29/2026, 9:34 AM
- 2510C Allowable Tag and Market Award Combinations 01/29/2026, 9:35 AM
- 2520 Real-Time and After-the-Fact Checkout 10/01/2025, 10:11 AM
- 2530 Manual Dispatch on Interties 10/01/2025, 10:11 AM
- 2540 Interchange Schedule Curtailments 10/01/2025, 10:11 AM
- 2550 Inadvertent Interchange ATEC Payback 04/09/2026, 10:04 AM
2700 - Market disruptions
- 2710 Market Disruption - RTM Failure and Suspension 08/15/2024, 10:30 AM
- 2720 Market Disruption - Western Energy Imbalance Market (WEIM) 01/15/2026, 8:51 AM
- 2720B Market Disruption Settlements Notification 01/15/2026, 8:51 AM
- 2720A Market Disruption Communications 01/15/2026, 8:51 AM
3000 series - transmission operations
3100 - Policy
- 3100 Establishing System Operating Limits for the Operations Horizon 03/05/2026, 8:56 AM
- 3100A Acceptable Thermal Performance Examples 03/05/2026, 8:56 AM
- 3140 TOP-003 TOP - BA Data Request and Specification Guidelines 04/02/2026, 10:11 AM
- 3140A TOP-003 TOP - BA Data Request and Specifications for Data Provision 04/02/2026, 10:11 AM
3200 - Outage coordination
- 3200 Normal Operations Planning Process 01/29/2026, 9:35 AM
- 3210 Transmission Outages 10/26/2023, 8:10 AM
- 3210A Transmission Outage Request 05/18/2023, 8:53 AM
- 3210G Outages to Connect New or Rearranged Facilities 05/18/2023, 8:53 AM
- 3220 Generation Outages 02/12/2026, 9:27 AM
- 3200A Operations for Extreme Weather 10/01/2025, 10:11 AM
3300 - System and voltage monitoring and control
- 3320 Voltage and VAR Control 12/04/2025, 9:38 AM
3500 - Interchange management
- 3510E Considerations When Requesting Unscheduled Flow Mitigation for Path 66 (COI) 10/22/2024, 8:59 AM
- 3530 Scheduling for Stranded Loads 01/18/2024, 11:07 AM
- 3530I Stranded Load Scheduling - Public Attachment 07/30/2024, 10:59 AM
3600 - System modeling
- 3610 Nomograms, TCORs, Flowgates, Contingencies and MOC 09/12/2024, 9:32 AM
- 3620 Transmission Reliability Margins 10/23/2025, 8:26 AM
- 3630 Modeling - Scheduling ETC and TOR Rights 07/13/2023, 8:45 AM
- 3630A ETC/TOR Instructions 07/13/2023, 8:45 AM
- 3640 Existing Transmission Contract Calculator Update 02/01/2024, 8:24 AM
4000 series - emergency operations
4100 - Adverse operating conditions
- 4100 System Operations Emergency Plan 07/31/2025, 9:53 AM
- 4110 Operations Emergency Preparation Notifications and Reporting 10/31/2025, 8:27 AM
- 4110A DOE, NERC, and WECC Significant Event Reporting Requirements 10/31/2025, 8:27 AM
- 4120 Gas Transmission Pipeline System Limitations or Outages 11/06/2025, 8:23 AM
4400 - Electric and capacity emergencies
- 4410 Emergency Assistance 05/01/2025, 9:05 AM
- 4410D Emergency Assistance Resource IDs 07/01/2024, 9:26 AM
- 4420 System Emergency 10/23/2025, 8:26 AM
- 4420C Emergency Notice Templates 10/23/2025, 8:26 AM
- 4420E Allowable Maintenance Activities During Restricted Maintenance Operations 10/23/2025, 8:26 AM
4500 - Load management
- 4510 Load Management Programs and Underfrequency Load Shedding 11/06/2025, 8:23 AM
- 4510A Load Shed Calculation Guideline - Public Attachment 03/05/2026, 8:56 AM
- 4510B Demand Response and UDC Interruptible Programs 12/18/2025, 9:14 AM
- 4510F Reliability Demand Response Resource (RDRR) Daily Reporting Template 05/01/2025, 9:06 AM
5000 series - communications and administration
5100 - Communications and reporting
- 5110 Real-Time Communications Guidelines 12/04/2025, 9:38 AM
- 5140 California ISO Market Participant Inquiries 11/06/2025, 8:23 AM
5200 - SLIC logging and reports
- 5210A Transmission Desk Logging 10/01/2024, 11:10 AM
- 5210B Generation Desk Logging 01/02/2024, 11:24 AM
- 5210E Market Operator Logging 11/01/2023, 8:18 AM
5300 - Resource certification and testing
- 5310 Generation Station Requirements and Communications 12/05/2024, 8:47 AM
- 5320 Resource Trial Operations and Test Energy Process 01/29/2026, 9:35 AM
- 5320A Test Energy Process for NGR Resources 01/29/2026, 9:35 AM
- 5320B Pre-Commercial Automated Dispatch System (ADS) Resource Test Procedure 10/23/2025, 8:26 AM
- 5330 Resource Testing Guidelines 12/18/2025, 9:15 AM
- 5330A Resource Test Request Form 12/11/2023, 10:55 AM
- 5330B Spinning and Non-Spinning Reserve Imports 12/11/2023, 10:55 AM
- 5330D Request for Testing Spinning and Non-Spinning Reserve Imports 12/11/2023, 10:55 AM
- 5330E Request for Testing Imports of Regulation 12/11/2023, 10:55 AM
- 5360 Black Start Resource Testing 07/13/2023, 8:45 AM
- 5360A Black Start Resource Test Request Form 07/13/2023, 8:45 AM
- 5360B Black Start Resource Test Report Form 01/23/2025, 9:44 AM
- 5360C Black Start Resource Test Plan Template 07/13/2023, 8:45 AM
- 5370 Resource Performance Verification 10/06/2025, 9:09 AM
5500 - Procedure maintenance
- 5510 Procedure Development, Maintenance and Distribution 06/25/2025, 9:40 AM
5700 - Metering process
- 5710 Certification of Metering Facilities 01/29/2026, 9:35 AM
- 5720 CAISO Authorized Inspector Application and Renewal Procedure 01/29/2026, 9:35 AM
- 5730 Metering Exemptions from Compliance 01/18/2024, 11:07 AM
- 5740 Meter Data Acquisition and Processing Procedure 01/18/2024, 11:07 AM
- 5750 Settlement Quality Meter Data (SQMD) Plan - Submission & Approval Process (External) 10/01/2025, 10:11 AM
6000-7000 series procedures
6000 series - bulk/ TOP007 reportable paths
7000 series - regional operations
Reliability coordinator procedures
For a complete list of operating procedures, view the RC West Operating Procedures Index List.
- RC0100 Reliability Coordinator Authority 06/26/2025, 10:49 AM
- RC0110 Communications Protocols 07/31/2025, 9:53 AM
- RC0120 Guidelines for RC West IRO-010 Data Specification and Collection 04/02/2026, 10:11 AM
- RC0120A RC West IRO-010 Data Specification 04/02/2026, 10:11 AM
- RC0120B RC West IRO-010 Data Specification for Adjacent RCs 04/02/2026, 10:12 AM
- RC0120C ICCP or PMU Data Request Procedure 04/02/2026, 10:12 AM
- RC0130 Notification Requirements for Real-Time Events 03/06/2026, 9:26 AM
- RC0130B New Equipment/RAS Energization Checklist 05/29/2025, 9:34 AM
- RC0140 Guidelines for Sending Messages Across RC Seams 06/15/2023, 2:34 PM
- RC0210 Monitoring Frequency and Balancing Authority Performance 01/31/2025, 9:25 AM
- RC0220 Time Error Correction 12/04/2025, 9:38 AM
- RC0310 Mitigating SOL and IROL Exceedances 03/06/2026, 9:26 AM
- RC0320 Outage Review and Coordination 04/23/2026, 9:24 AM
- RC0330 Coordination with Neighboring Reliability Coordinators 05/29/2025, 9:34 AM
- RC0410 System Emergencies 03/06/2026, 9:26 AM
- RC0410A EOP-011 Plan Review Checklist 10/01/2025, 10:11 AM
- RC0420 Event Reporting 12/18/2025, 9:15 AM
- RC0430 GMD Operating Plan 01/29/2026, 9:35 AM
- RC0430A EOP-010 Plan Review Checklist 06/26/2025, 10:49 AM
- RC0460 Reliability Coordinator Area Restoration Plan 05/29/2025, 9:34 AM
- RC0460F EOP-005 Plan Review Checklist 10/01/2024, 11:10 AM
- RC0540 WIT Administration 12/18/2025, 9:15 AM
- RC0540A RC West WIT Schedule Change Process 05/01/2025, 9:06 AM
- RC0550 Reliability Coordinator Procedure Development, Maintenance and Distribution 03/27/2025, 8:14 AM
- RC0600 RC West Implementation of Common Interconnection-wide Methodology 12/18/2025, 9:15 AM
- RC0600A Western Interconnection Modeling and Monitoring Common Methodology 12/18/2025, 9:15 AM
- RC0610 System Operating Limits Methodology for the Operations Horizon 09/08/2025, 9:01 AM
- RC0610A Criteria for Determining Facilities Critical to Derivation of IROL 10/01/2025, 10:11 AM
- RC0620 Operations Planning Analysis (Next Day) 12/13/2023, 8:14 AM
- RC0630 Outage Coordination Process 01/18/2024, 11:07 AM
- RC0640 Transmission Near-Term Planning Assessments: NERC-IRO-017 07/10/2025, 9:47 AM
- RC0650 Steady-State and Dynamic System Model Validation: NERC MOD-033 11/13/2025, 9:20 AM
- RC0660 Transmission Relay Loadability: NERC PRC-023 07/10/2025, 9:47 AM
- RC0670 NERC PRC-002 Disturbance Monitoring and Reporting Requirements Process 01/29/2026, 9:35 AM
- RC0680 RC Guidelines for Seasonal Assessment and Coordination Process 05/29/2025, 9:34 AM
- RC0690 PRC-012 Remedial Action Schemes 01/18/2024, 11:07 AM
- RC0690A PRC-012 Remedial Action Schemes - RAS Review Checklist 01/18/2024, 11:07 AM
- RC0690B PRC-012 Process - RAS Design Review 01/18/2024, 11:07 AM
- RC0690C PRC-012 Remedial Action Schemes - Corrective Action Plan (CAP) and Results 01/18/2024, 11:07 AM
- RC West Operating Procedures Index List 04/23/2026, 9:24 AM
- RC West Coordination Plan (Reliability Plan) 12/18/2025, 9:15 AM