There are different consequences for delamping fixtures which depend mostly on what type of ballasts are present. Older magnetic ballasts had a more difficult time running a parttial load and would often have a much reduced output from the remaining lamp, thereby reducing the illumination levels even further than intended. Ballast life also suffered, I am not positive about the technical reason why, just know it occurred. They also often dusplayed a random color shift in the light output of the remaining lamp as well which would make a space appear absolutely horribly illuminated.
You do not save much in the way of energy consumption by de-lamping and in many cases the energy use goes up as the ballast factor suffers with partial loading as Davidbeach stated.
If you can disconnect either one ballast in a multiple ballasted fixture and provide even illumination at a lower footcandle level, that would be the optimal as long as you kept the levels to a safe minimum. If the fixtures have but one ballast, then disconnecting every second or third fixture in a regular pattern, while making sure all exit paths, work areas and safety hazards were still properly illuminated would save some energy.
You did not state what kind of spaces these were, but you mentioned an "industrial facility". You should be careful as Keith stated because as a norm, we design industrial spaces with minimal illumination as it is in general use areas, so removing a single fixture in a specific area may leave that area below a safe lighting level. And there are scary things that hang in the shadows, they've been to law school.
