Intervention is a process that allows a person who is not an original party to a case, but who will be directly and substantially affected by the outcome, to participate in the case as a party. A person that wants to intervene must make a request to the Commission in writing before intervention is granted. In a case that will have a hearing, the presiding Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ") will issue a Procedural Order that schedules the case for hearing. The Procedural Order typically includes a specific deadline by which a request to intervene must be filed. If no intervention deadline is specified by Procedural Order, a request to intervene should be filed at least 5 days before the hearing commences. (See A.A.C. R14-3-105.) Even for cases that will not have a hearing, and for which no scheduling Procedural Order is issued, a person who will be directly and substantially affected may request to intervene. You should file a request to intervene as quickly as possible after you learn of a case.

Providing public comment is not the same thing as intervening. An intervenor is a party to a case, with all the rights and responsibilities that entails, such as providing sworn testimony and cross-examining other parties' witnesses. A person providing public comment is not a party to a case and does not have those rights and responsibilities. Although the ALJ and Commissioners can and may consider public comment in their decision-making process, public comment does not carry the same weight as sworn testimony because public comments are not given under oath, and commenters are not subject to cross examination.

If you do not intervene in a case, you will not receive notice when filings are made in the case unless you have signed up to follow the docket for the case. Information on Following a Docket or Document Type..

NOTE: You do not need to request intervention in a generic or rulemaking docket because those docket types do not have parties. Any person can provide input in a generic or rulemaking docket, and all of the input is considered public comment. If you want to receive notice of filings made in a generic or rulemaking docket, you should sign up to follow the docket..

To request intervention, you must file a written request to intervene, either (a) by  eFiling the request, or (b) by filing a hard copy request (meeting filing requirements) with Docket Control (Docket Control, 1200 West Washington, Phoenix, AZ 85007). Your request should be filed or eFiled by the deadline specified or as quickly as possible after you learn of the case. (You can use the  Sample Intervention Request for guidance or complete the  Fillable Intervention Request Form.)

Your request to intervene must contain the information below:

1. Your name, address, and telephone number;
2. The docket number for the case in which you are requesting to intervene;
3. A short statement explaining:
   1. Your interest in the proceeding (e.g., a customer of the utility involved, a property owner in an area to be affected by the case, etc.),
   2. How you will be directly and substantially affected by the outcome of the case, and
   3. Why your intervention will not unduly broaden the issues in the case;
4. If a hearing has not been scheduled, whether and why you believe a hearing is needed;
5. A statement certifying that you have sent a copy of your request to intervene to the regulated company or its attorney and to all other parties of record in the case and showing the names of the parties to whom service was provided and the addresses (which could be email addresses) used; and
6. If you are not represented by an attorney who is an active member of the Arizona State Bar, and you are not representing yourself as an individual, sufficient information and any appropriate documentation to demonstrate compliance with Arizona Supreme Court Rules 31.1, 31.2, 31.3, 38, 39, and 42, as applicable. This only applies if you are NOT representing yourself and you are not a licensed attorney.
   

You must serve a copy of your request to intervene on each party of record on the service list for the case. The service list for the case can be found by searching for the case docket number using eDocket on the Commission website and selecting the "service list" tab on the page for the case. You must file your request to intervene with the Commission and serve it on the parties to the case on the same day.

For information about providing service on parties, see "How do I serve documents on other parties?" on the “Hearing FAQs” page https://www.azcc.gov/faqs/hearing-faqs, under the “Monitoring or Participating in a Commission Case” tab.

Intervention is not automatic. You will not be granted intervention unless you have demonstrated a direct and substantial interest in the outcome of the case and that your intervention would not unduly broaden the issues before the Commission in the case.

The ALJ will not act on your request to intervene until the parties of record have had an opportunity to object to your requested intervention. You will be notified regarding the decision on your request to intervene either during a procedural conference or through a Procedural Order.

If you are representing only your own interests before the Commission, it is not required that you have an attorney represent you; you can represent yourself.

If you are representing any individual other than yourself, and you are not an attorney, you will be required to have an attorney represent you both.

You may be able to represent a legal entity for which you are an officer, member, or employee, if you meet the requirements of Arizona Supreme Court Rule 31.3(c)(5) and (6): 

https://govt.westlaw.com/azrules/Document/NB2A56770EA1211EF91B1D2A5E36369C6?viewType=FullText&originationContext=documenttoc&transitionType=CategoryPageItem&contextData=(sc.Default)

You can access all Arizona Supreme Court Rules at https://www.azcourts.gov/rules by selecting “Current Arizona Rules” and then “Rules of the Supreme Court of Arizona”

Each filing made by a party or potential party to an existing Docket that is not a generic or rulemaking docket must be served on each party to the Docket, and the filing must include a Certificate of Service showing that this service is being or has been made.

1.  The parties for a Docket are shown on eDocket in the Service List tab for the Docket.
2. If a party has consented to receive Service by Email (“Email Opt-in” is checked), you may provide the party service using the email address/es shown on the Service List.
3. The Certificate of Service must list each party to whom service is being made, with the address used for the party, and the following (or substantially similar) language:

"I hereby certify that I have this __[date]__ day of ______[Month]_________, 20_[yr]_, served the foregoing document/s on all parties of record in this proceeding, as listed below or on the attached service list consisting of _[#]__ pages, by __________[method/s of service]__________________.

By:

Signature [of person providing service] 

Name and Title of person providing service

4. While your filing will not be rejected by Docket Control if you fail to include a Certificate of Service, the ALJ may not be able to take any action in response to your filing without an assurance that service has been made on all parties.  Thus, failure to include a Certificate of Service may cause delay.