Dataframe: CAISO:caiso_load - CAISO Load (5-Min)

Description

CAISO system load at 5-minute resolution. Each row is one 5-minute interval, timestamped in UTC, with a single system-wide load value in megawatts.

In this project the series provides grid operational context: it is the demand backdrop for interpreting price spreads, real-time price spikes, and outage or curtailment conditions on the CAISO grid.

Data Dictionary

• interval_start_utc: datetime64[ns] Interval start, UTC

• interval_end_utc: datetime64[ns] Interval end (start + 5 minutes), UTC

• load: float64 CAISO system load in MW

Notes

• load does not include load from storage charging. The hourly companion dataset (caiso_load_hourly) does include storage charging, so the two series are not directly comparable.

• Timestamps are stored in UTC; convert to US/Pacific at analysis time as needed.

Data Preview

Rows: 880,751  |  Columns: 3  |  Cache: data/opensource/caiso_load.parquet

Sample rows

First and latest 5 rows by interval_start_utc.

interval_start_utc	interval_end_utc	load
2018-04-10 07:00	2018-04-10 07:05	22459.0
2018-04-10 07:05	2018-04-10 07:10	22371.0
2018-04-10 07:10	2018-04-10 07:15	22330.0
2018-04-10 07:15	2018-04-10 07:20	22082.0
2018-04-10 07:20	2018-04-10 07:25	21978.0
…	…	…
2026-08-27 06:35	2026-08-27 06:40	35228.0
2026-08-27 06:40	2026-08-27 06:45	34954.0
2026-08-27 06:45	2026-08-27 06:50	34728.0
2026-08-27 06:50	2026-08-27 06:55	34465.0
2026-08-27 06:55	2026-08-27 07:00	34156.0

Column summary

Column	Dtype	Nulls	Min	Max
interval_start_utc	Datetime[ns]	0	2018-04-10 07:00	2026-08-27 06:55
interval_end_utc	Datetime[ns]	0	2018-04-10 07:05	2026-08-27 07:00
load	Float64	0	-2651.0	72922.0

DataFrame Glimpse

Rows: 880751
Columns: 3
$ interval_start_utc <datetime[ns]> 2026-08-27 06:55:00
$ interval_end_utc   <datetime[ns]> 2026-08-27 07:00:00
$ load                        <f64> 34156.0

Dataframe Manifest

Dataframe Name	CAISO Load (5-Min)
Dataframe ID	caiso_load
Data Sources	caiso.com Today’s Outlook (demand)
Data Providers	CAISO
Links to Providers	https://www.caiso.com
Topic Tags	Load, Grid Context
Type of Data Access
How is data pulled?	src/pulls/pull_caiso_load.py via the open-source gridstatus library
Data available up to (min)	N/A
Data available up to (max)	N/A
Dataframe Path	data\opensource\caiso_load.parquet

Linked Charts:

• None

Pipeline Manifest

Pipeline Name	Project-Lab-Energy-Weather-Natgas-Quanto-CAISO
Pipeline ID	CAISO
Lead Pipeline Developer	Brian Nguyen
Contributors	Brian Nguyen, Claire Kim
Git Repo URL
Pipeline Web Page	Pipeline Web Page
Date of Last Code Update	2026-08-27 10:08:05
OS Compatibility	Windows, Linux, macOS
Linked Dataframes	CAISO:caiso_lmp_day_ahead_hourly CAISO:caiso_lmp_real_time_15_min CAISO:caiso_lmp_real_time_5_min CAISO:caiso_fuel_prices CAISO:caiso_fuel_regions CAISO:caiso_load CAISO:caiso_load_hourly CAISO:caiso_fuel_mix CAISO:caiso_renewables_hourly CAISO:caiso_curtailed_non_operational_generator_report CAISO:caiso_outages_aggregated_hourly CAISO:openmeteo_temperature_daily CAISO:eia860m_generators CAISO:us_ba_boundaries

Build Commands:

doit