UCLA MAE Professor and SMERC Director Rajit Gadh was quoted in the Los Angeles times article “DWP still investigating cause of transformer explosion that left 140,000 Valley customers without power“:
As residents switch on air conditioners to deal with the sweltering July heat, it means the region draws more power, said Rajit Gadh, engineering professor at UCLA. Substations used to transfer that energy require cooling or they can become overheated.
“When temperatures rise that much, then lots of things can potentially go wrong, including the electric grid,” Gadh said.