Yesterday we got a flier in the mail from Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE).  I was about to recycle it when I noticed the following paragraph:

I read that a few times then turned to the fine print.  Here’s what I saw.

Yeah, I know that’s hard to read.  Imagine how difficult it is for us old folks.

So here’s the summary.  Beginning in July we will be automatically switched to SVCE unless we opt out.  My lovely wife keeps up with local politics and knew that SVCE had been formed.  But the automatic enrollment was a surprise to her — and not a pleasant surprise at that.

Any doubts about California being the nanny state have now been erased.  Frankly, this is outrageous.  We are being asked to buy a pig in a poke — except that the swine will be automatically delivered at an unknown price unless we do something.  As far as I can tell there are no long-term price guarantees.  And if some of the “green energy” subsidies are removed, watch your bill soar.  (Of course I’m not talking about California subsidies.  Those will stay in place until the sun goes supernova.  But the federal tax subsidies are another matter entirely.)

For those who are curious, images of both sides of the mailer and a pdf version are below.  The image files are pretty big, so be careful where you click.

pdf:

Images:

(click for larger image)

(click for larger image)