From wikipedia:
Demand response is generally used to refer to mechanisms used to encourage consumers to reduce demand, thereby reducing the peak demand for electricity. Since electrical systems are generally sized to correspond to peak demand (plus margin for error and unforeseen events), lowering peak demand reduces overall plant and capital cost requirements. Depending on the configuration of generation capacity, however, demand response may also be used to increase demand (load) at times of high production and low demand. Some systems may thereby encourage energy storage to arbitrage between periods of low and high demand (or low and high prices). As the proportion of intermittent power sources such as wind power in a system grows, demand response may become increasingly important to effective management of the electric grid.