Compared with the supply-side option through increasing generation capacity and upgrading transmission and distribution systems, demand-side management including control of peak load is more cost-effective. Peak-load control is a way by which consumers modify their level and pattern of electricity consumption to shed their peak electricity usage or shift their usage from peak to off-peak times. There are a lot of simple actions that businesses and residents can do to shift or shed their peak electricity usage. For example, customers can shift energy-intensive tasks—like laundry and dishwashing—to off-peak hours. Customers can also install a thermostat and set it at a higher temperature when not in the home at daytime. Customers’ peak load control will help reduce the peak load and change the load-shape by flattening out the load curve on utility systems (“valley-filling”).