Yeah, OCB's light enabler mod might be a good example of changing the state directly on the lights without looking at the power input. That should work the same way I was talking about, at least as far as changing the power state on the targets. But it should also be a similar method to change the power draw on the source.
I think this isn't necessarily correct. As with the light enabler mod, you can manipulate the light (or other target) to think there is power going to it when there isn't. You're just changing the power state yourself rather than letting the normal electricity connection control that. Maybe it's not possible, but I think it could be.
Btw, I really like using the light enabler mod and am missing it in 3.0 since it isn't updated yet. And I wish it still had the older version's color and intensity controls, though just turning lights on and off is still a plus.