Without power, Obama chooses to stay in dark

US President-elect Barack Obama declined to use a generator and preferred instead to spend nearly 12 hours without electricity at his vacation home on Oahu after a suspected lightning strike blacked out Hawaii's most populous island, an aide said on Saturday.

The outage on Friday night left thousands of people, including Obama and his family, in the dark as an electrical storm rolled over the island. The Obamas are staying at a heavily guarded beachfront villa in eastern Oahu.

"Power was restored to the residence during the 6 o'clock hour this morning. The Obama family is grateful for the offers of assistance from local officials," said Ben Labolt, a spokesman for Obama.