CALIFORNIA TURNING LIGHTS OFF SURVEY FINDS ENERGY CONSERVATION WORKING.

Byline: Dominic Berbeo and Dana Bartholomew Staff Writers

More than 83 percent of Californians are conserving energy by turning off lights, unplugging extra appliances and cranking down the air conditioning, according to a survey released Thursday.

And most people expect the energy crisis to get worse before getting better.

Residential customers around the state are paying an average of $102 per month for electricity this year compared with $75 per month last year, and most expect to pay 40 percent more next year, according to the independent survey by J.D. Power and Associates, an Agoura Hills-based marketing research agency.

``People are turning out their lights,'' said Al Destribats, executive director of utilities practice at J.D. Power. ``Most say they think it will take about four years to solve the crisis, and about 30 percent blame greed (of the power companies).''

Even in areas served by municipal power agencies - such as the city of Los Angeles - where residential bills have not been as greatly affected, people are aware of the crisis and are taking extra steps to conserve, Destribats said.

State officials said Thursday that they are encouraged by the report.

In the midst of blackout threats in January, Gov. Gray Davis called on Californians to whittle 10 percent off their energy use - for a total of about 5,000 megawatts, or the equivalent of 10 large power plants, during the summer's peak. An $850 million conservation initiative was launched.

In June, California residents cut energy use 12 percent over the same period last year, a Davis spokesman said Thursday. During peak demand, residents saved 5,570 megawatts, a 14 percent reduction.

While Californians drew more than 40,000 megawatts of energy from the power grid 10 times last June, this year, despite higher temperatures, residents never hit the mark once.

``That is an amazing feat by the people of California,'' said Roger Salazar, a Davis spokesman. ``The governor calls this feat nothing short of heroic.''

Southern Californians, while enduring higher temperatures and air conditioning demands, saved slightly less. Southern California Edison, with 4.3 million customers, reported a 10.4 percent savings in June over last year.

``Conservation is going to play a very big part in meeting peak demand this summer, particularly in the hot months ahead,'' said Edison spokesman Paul Klein.

Nowhere is the conservation spirit more evident than at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont. Modeling their quest on the ``Survivor'' TV series, workers have divided the campus into 20 ``tribes'' for a ``Survivor: Claremont McKenna Challenge'' - with a monthly rally and prizes to the stingiest consumers.

``The great news is we have reduced energy consumption by 20 percent in June,'' said Claremont McKenna spokeswoman Evie Lazzarino. ``People are really taking it seriously.''

The J.D. Power survey was based on 1,500 telephone interviews statewide and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.