As California swelters, contrasting tales of energy brilliance and bumbling

A cellphone alert helps avert blackouts while a battery storage snafu threatens disaster.

At 5:48 p.m. Pacific time on Tuesday, 27 million California cellphones began buzzing loudly. An Amber alert? A warning about a natural disaster such as an earthquake? No. Instead, it was a blaring warning from the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. “Conserve energy now to protect public health and safety. Extreme heat is straining the state energy…