The school was founded in 1951 and has long been under the management of the national power department. In 2000, it was under local management. The school has undergone various developments and transformations, including Shanghai Electric School, Shanghai Power School, Shanghai Electric College, Shanghai Higher Electric College, and Shanghai Electric University. It began to offer undergraduate programs in 1985, started master's programs in 2006, became a doctoral-granting institution in 2018, and was approved to establish a doctoral postgraduate research station in electrical engineering in 2023, forming a complete degree authorization and talent cultivation system.