What Does It Mean to Intervene?
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 submitted. 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.
It is important to note that 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. See how to follow a docket.
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.