PROVIDENCE — Should Rhode Island pay people or organizations wishing to intervene in contested environmental cases?

That’s an issue that may receive an airing in the General Assembly this year. Under legislation slated to be introduced by the environmental nonprofits the Acadia Center and the Conservation Law Foundation, intervenors in certain contested utility cases — such as power plant siting, fossil fuel infrastructure applications, or the twice-yearly utility rate changes — could be awarded grants to cover the cost of intervening.

Individuals and groups can apply for intervenor status in most decisions made by a state board or body, ranging from utility issues in front of the state Public Utilities Commission to right-of-way designations and shoreline development being considered by the Coastal Resources Management Council.

But longtime agency watchers will know that all contested cases involve paid lawyers and/or experts, turning the public process into something similar to a legal proceeding. That means increased amounts of time, energy, resources, and money that most individuals and communities around the state don’t have.

It’s common for well-entrenched environmental groups such as the Acadia Center or the Conservation Law Foundation, and entities like the attorney general’s office, to intervene in a case because they have the resources to do so. Small municipalities and community groups often do not.

“What we envision is environmental justice communities and local governments that have a direct stake in certain proposals using the grant,” said Emily Koo, Rhode Island program director at the Acadia Center. (Full disclosure: Koo is a member of the ecoRI News board of directors.) “These kinds of groups don’t usually have the kind of money they need to represent themselves in proceedings.”

Rhode Island has seen two recent fossil fuel projects that received big public backlash: the proposed Invenergy natural gas power plant in Burrillville and the proposed Sea 3 terminal in the Port of Providence. Both would have brought enormous amounts of fossil fuels through communities that did not want them.

Invenergy lost a key vote with the state Energy Facility Siting Board (EFSB) in 2019 after a sustained grassroots campaign from Burrillville residents opposing the project.

In 2022, Sea 3 Providence LLC filed a motion for a declaratory order with the EFSB, arguing its proposed expansion of rail service and other enhancements for its liquefied natural gas facility did not require a full application before the board. The city of Providence, state attorney general’s office, and the Conservation Law Foundation were considered intervenors in the case, but so was People’s Port Authority, a community group representing Providence’s Washington Park and South Providence neighborhoods.

Under the proposed legislation, the PUC would house an intervenor’s fund, where qualifying groups could apply for grants to cover intervenor costs up to $50,000, with a maximum total grant cap of $100,000 per contested case. The grants would only be applicable to cases within the PUC, like rate changes or power plant siting. Koo said the legislation was designed to be revenue neutral, and that it would be up to lawmakers to decide on the funding source, an especially dicey question in a deficit year for the state budget.

“What we’ve seen in other states is that the fund brings a level of oversight for the ratepayers and consumers,” Koo said. “It helps the consumers be more represented, but it also saves money. How are we ensuring that ratepayers aren’t footing the bill on things that aren’t in their interest?”

The legislation is expected to be introduced within the next few weeks.