SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Police across the state could soon be on the trail of a new sort of scofflaw: business owners who don't dim the lights when they close up shop for the night.
Under order of the governor, all California retailers -- from auto dealers to shopping malls -- must substantially reduce their outdoor lighting during nonbusiness hours or face fines up to $1,000 a day starting next month.
The lights-off edict, issued Thursday by Gov. Gray Davis to ease the state's power crisis, is part of a $404 million statewide conservation program that Davis touted as "the most aggressive in America."
The plan doesn't spell out limits on after-hours power use, and it allows for lights "necessary for the health and safety of the public, employees or property."
At least one business indicated that it might be cheaper to pay the fines than turn off the lights.
"If someone came in and threw eggs on our cars because the lights were off, that'd be more than $1,000 right there," said Bobby B, sales manager at Midway Ford in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Capt. Ray Leyva said how much the state benefits from the rule would depend on whether the public buys into it. If the edict is ignored, enforcing the fine could sap valuable resources and time officers would otherwise devote to fighting crime, he said.
"It could be a tremendous amount of work -- or we could have tremendous compliance from the public and not have more work at all."
The program also sets aside $75 million in financial incentives for consumers who upgrade to energy-efficient appliances and $95 million for businesses that install energy-saving equipment and lighting. Funding also would be available for finding ways to cut consumption during peak periods and to increase energy efficiency in government.
The state's power resources have been so strained they have fallen below 1.5 percent for more than two straight weeks, and northern and central California were hit twice last month with rolling blackouts.
