Widespread Power Blackout In Effect In Parts Of California

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Retirees John and Greta Maltbie say they prepared for a widespread power blackout intended to prevent wildfires in California by buying bottled water, getting cash and  filling their car with gas.  But the couple in suburban Sacramento forgot to charge their cellphones and were unable to get information on the Pacific Gas and Electric website, which was down  after being overloaded with visitors.  The Maltbies were among three people at an air-conditioned tent set up by PG&E in the parking lot of a church. They were charging their phones Wednesday  and trying to get more information on the outage.  The utility says it has set up at least one community center in every county affected by its outages to provide information, water and power for  people who need to charge medical or other devices.  California’s largest utility says as many as 2 million people will remain without power at least through Thursday as a precaution to protect against wildfires.