Sorry you guys, you're still not getting it. The lights have nothing whatever to do with 'energy savings' one way or the other. They are powered off the battery, which is kept "topped-off" by the alternator, and the alternator unless it is clutched is a constant drag on the engine--if you turn on every electrical accessory in the Ridge all it does is drain-down the battery and require more of what the alternator does for it, namely to charge it back up again. If you don't use any electrical, and the battery is at full capacity, then the output of the alternator is dissipated as heat, in the regulation electronics. But there is no savings ANYWHERE in a system like this.
Maybe I'm digging a hole for myself, and Honda has implemented a clutched alternator similar to an a/c compressor, and when the battery is OK the alternator is disconnected from the engine, thereby reducing load and saving gas. This would be great if it does.
But any talk of turning-off car lights and thereby saving energy and the environment is nutso! That Howitworks article was likely written by a tree-hugger that never took even a basic science class!
Edit: I wrote the above while vrtrkr your post appeared. But your experience reinforces my point. If the belt is loose, the alternator doesn't turn, and the battery becomes depleted. But the alternator is SUPPOSED TO be turning 100% of the time, always loading-down the engine, always providing power to the battery, whether the battery needs it or not, whether lights are used or not. If the battery doesn't NEED the juice, the alternator's output is dissipated in the charging electronics, but it is not "saved" nor is the load on the engine reduced in any way.