A heuristic approach to power system generation scheduling is discussed. The proposed short-term unit commitment employs a multistage neural network expert system approach to achieve real-time processing results. The operating constraints are presented as, heuristic rules in the system where a feasible solution is obtained through inference. The neural networks are used at the preprocessor and postprocessor stages. At the preprocessor stage, a load pattern matching scheme is used to retrieve an optimal schedule that represents the closest solution to the given load profile from the database. At the postprocessor stage, a trained neural network performs considerable adjustments to achieve the optimal solution