Shanghai's demand response (DR) city pilot kicked off on May 29 and has received strong support from the central government. The Shanghai DR city pilot is the first of its kind in China. Compared to the traditional administrative tool of "orderly use of power", DR programs involve voluntary participation of end-use customers. Customers can choose to respond to the power grid by reducing their electricity consumption during certain periods and receive compensations based on their actual load reduction. Shanghai will test out different DR programs with buildings and industrial users over the summer peak this year to design a "Shanghai model of DR", which could be replicated nationwide. NRDC has been working closely with Shanghai as one of the official participating organizations of the city pilot, providing technical and policy support.