California Independent System Operator

The California Legislature created CAISO in 1998 as part of the state restructuring of electricity markets. The legislature was responding to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) recommendations following the passage of the federal Energy Policy Act of 1992, which removed barriers to competition in the wholesale generation of electricity business. FERC regulates CAISO because interstate transmission lines fall under the jurisdiction of federal commerce laws.{{cite web |date=2013 |title=CAISO: Company Information and Facts |url=http://www.caiso.com/Documents/CompanyInformation_Facts.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724004145/http://www.caiso.com/Documents/CompanyInformation_Facts.pdf |archive-date=July 24, 2013 |access-date=July 20, 2013 |publisher=CAISO}}

CAISO's leadership consists of executive management and governing board members appointed by the Governor of California.

The current executive leaders are:{{cite web |url=http://www.caiso.com/about/Pages/OurLeadership/Default.aspx |title=Our leadership

|website=caiso.com |access-date=August 20, 2020}}

• President and CEO: Elliot Mainzer{{cite web |url=https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/behind-the-scenes-maneuvering-averts-even-more-california-power-outages/2415748/ |title=Power Outages - Behind the Scenes Maneuvering Averts Even More California Power Outages |website=nbclosangeles.com |first=Patrick |last=Healy |date=August 20, 2020 |access-date=August 20, 2020}}(CEO Stephen Berberich)
• Vice Presidents: Roger Collanton,{{cite web |url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20140303006380/en/California-ISO-Board-Appoints-New-Corporate-Officer |title=California ISO Board Appoints New Corporate Officer - Roger Collanton is Vice President, General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Corporate Secretary |website=businesswire.com |date=March 3, 2014 |access-date=August 20, 2020}} Stacey Crowley,{{cite web |url=https://www.tahoefund.org/news/stacey-crowley-joins-tahoe-fund-board-of-directors/ |title=STACEY CROWLEY JOINS TAHOE FUND BOARD OF DIRECTORS |website=tahoefund.org |date=May 7, 2019 |access-date=August 20, 2020}}(Stacey Crowley, VP of External and Customer Affairs) Neil Millar, Petar Ristanovic, Mark Rothleder, Ryan Seghesio, Eric Schmitt,{{cite web |url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110901006517/en/New-Vice-President-Lead-ISO-Market-Grid |title=New Vice President to Lead ISO Market & Grid Operations |website=businesswire.com |date=September 1, 2011 |access-date=August 20, 2020}} and Jodi Ziemathis

{{main|Renewable energy in California}}

In 2018, California ranked first in the nation as a producer of electricity from solar, geothermal, and biomass resources and fourth in the nation in conventional hydroelectric power generation.{{cite web |title=eia.gov California state overview|url=https://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=CA|access-date=February 23, 2020}} As of 2017, over half of the electricity (52.7%) produced was from renewable sources.{{cite web|url=https://www.eia.gov/beta/states/states/ca/overview|title=Overview|website=eia.gov|access-date=February 23, 2020}} CAISO provides a daily report on California renewable electricity generation, compared to overall system demand.[http://content.caiso.com/green/renewrpt/DailyRenewablesWatch.pdf Daily renewables report]

CAISO settled with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation for $6 million for violations of standards related to the 2011 Southwest blackout.{{cite web|publisher=Federal Energy Regulatory Commission|title=FERC Approves Fifth Settlement in 2011 Southwest Blackout Case|

url=http://www.ferc.gov/media/news-releases/2014/2014-4/11-28-14.asp}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.nerc.com/news/Pages/California-Independent-System-Operator,-FERC-and-NERC-Reach-Settlement-Agreement.aspx |title=California Independent System Operator, FERC and NERC Reach Settlement Agreement |access-date=2015-02-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150209031026/http://www.nerc.com/news/Pages/California-Independent-System-Operator,-FERC-and-NERC-Reach-Settlement-Agreement.aspx |archive-date=2015-02-09 |url-status=dead }}

Starting August 5 2020, CAISO ordered the utilities operating on its power grid to cut off power to 200,000–250,000 customers. While CAISO stated the high temperatures and corresponding high demand for air conditioning necessitated rolling blackouts, it enacted the blackouts with significant power reserves still being available.{{Cite news|last=Penn|first=Ivan|date=2020-08-16|title=Rolling Blackouts in California Have Power Experts Stumped|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/16/business/california-blackouts.html|access-date=2020-08-17|issn=0362-4331}} When causing the rolling blackouts, CAISO acted contrary to its own policy, with its 2019 resource assessment{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=2019-SummerLoads-Resources-Assessment-Report|url=http://www.caiso.com/Documents/Briefing-2019-SummerLoads-Resources-Assessment-Report-May2019.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200817155029/http://www.caiso.com/Documents/Briefing-2019-SummerLoads-Resources-Assessment-Report-May2019.pdf |archive-date=2020-08-17 |access-date=|website=|page=31}} calling for stage 3 emergency only with 3% or less available power resources. When stage 3 was first enacted on August 15, the CAISO power grid had 8.9% available resources, about three times the required threshold.

On September 6, 2022, during one of the longest and hottest September heatwaves on record, which encompassed multiple Western states, California's peak electricity demand of 52,061 megawatts occurred. {{ cite news | url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/09/06/record-california-power-demand-expected-tuesday-will-the-lights-stay-on/ | title=Rolling blackout threat averted: Power was shut off only to some customers in Palo Alto, Alameda | last=Woolfolk | first=John | newspaper=San Jose Mercury News | date=2022-09-06 | quote=Widespread blackouts didn’t happen Tuesday. But it was close. And on a day when the Bay Area hit all-time heat records across the regions, the drumbeat of power warnings kept residents on edge. At one point, PG&E began notifying 525,000 customers that the blackouts were imminent. ... Palo Alto and Alameda, both of which have their own municipal utilities, were hit with rolling outages Tuesday night. The cities were directed by the ISO to reduce their electrical load. Power was shut off to 1,700 customers in Palo Alto and an unspecified number of customers in Alameda. }} {{ cite news | url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/california-rolling-blackouts-avoided-record-electricity-demand/ | title=California avoids rolling blackouts despite record power demand, but the brutal heat wave continues | last= | first= | newspaper=CBS News | date=2022-09-07 }} Widespread rolling blackouts were narrowly avoided due to conservation efforts, though several thousand customers in Palo Alto and Alameda had their power cut when CAISO told those cities' municipal power companies to shed load.{{ r | SJMN_2022-09-06 | CBS_2022-09-07 }} The CEO of CAISO stated that the 3,300 megawatts of grid storage batteries added since the August 2020 rolling blackouts were definitely helpful during this event.{{ r | SJMN_2022-09-06 }}

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{{reflist}}

• [https://www.caiso.com Official website]
• [https://www.westerneim.com/Pages/About/default.aspx Western Energy Imbalance Market] managed by CAISO [https://www.westerneim.com/Pages/About/HowItWorks.aspx video]

{{Regional transmission organization (north america)}}

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Category:Energy in California

Category:Electric power transmission system operators in the United States

Category:Companies based in California

Category:1998 establishments in California