diff --git a/contracts/.env.example b/contracts/.env.example
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c9be2096c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contracts/.env.example
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+ETHEREUM_JSONRPC_HTTP_URL=https://eth-rinkeby.alchemyapi.io/v2/ADD_API_KEY
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/contracts/.gitignore b/contracts/.gitignore
index 726b47e2d..22b6d5697 100644
--- a/contracts/.gitignore
+++ b/contracts/.gitignore
@@ -4,3 +4,4 @@ node_modules
 snark-params
 state.json
 tally.json
+.env
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/contracts/hardhat.config.ts b/contracts/hardhat.config.ts
index d4b453c19..435063e6a 100644
--- a/contracts/hardhat.config.ts
+++ b/contracts/hardhat.config.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,13 @@
 import fs from 'fs';
 import path from 'path';
+import dotenv from 'dotenv'
 
 import { HardhatUserConfig, task } from 'hardhat/config'
 import '@nomiclabs/hardhat-waffle'
 import '@nomiclabs/hardhat-ganache'
 
+dotenv.config()
+
 const GAS_LIMIT = 10000000
 
 const config: HardhatUserConfig = {
@@ -14,7 +17,7 @@ const config: HardhatUserConfig = {
       blockGasLimit: GAS_LIMIT,
     },
     localhost: {
-      url: "http://127.0.0.1:18545"
+      url: 'http://127.0.0.1:18545',
     },
     ganache: {
       // Workaround for https://github.com/nomiclabs/hardhat/issues/518
@@ -32,11 +35,11 @@ const config: HardhatUserConfig = {
     },
   },
   paths: {
-    artifacts: "build/contracts",
-    tests: "tests"
+    artifacts: 'build/contracts',
+    tests: 'tests',
   },
   solidity: {
-    version: "0.6.12",
+    version: '0.6.12',
     settings: {
       optimizer: {
         enabled: true,
diff --git a/contracts/package.json b/contracts/package.json
index c80e1832f..28a276827 100644
--- a/contracts/package.json
+++ b/contracts/package.json
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
   },
   "dependencies": {
     "@openzeppelin/contracts": "3.2.0",
+    "dotenv": "^8.2.0",
     "maci-contracts": "0.6.7",
     "solidity-rlp": "2.0.3"
   },