diff --git a/gridappsd-field-bus-lib/gridappsd_field_bus/forwarder.py b/gridappsd-field-bus-lib/gridappsd_field_bus/forwarder.py
index c744c9e..79b0c75 100644
--- a/gridappsd-field-bus-lib/gridappsd_field_bus/forwarder.py
+++ b/gridappsd-field-bus-lib/gridappsd_field_bus/forwarder.py
@@ -1,20 +1,47 @@
 import time
 
+from dotenv import load_dotenv
 import click
 import yaml
 import os
+import urllib
 
 from gridappsd_field_bus import MessageBusDefinition
 from gridappsd_field_bus.field_interface.field_proxy_forwarder import FieldProxyForwarder
 
 
 @click.command()
-@click.option('--username', required=True, help='Username for the connection.')
-@click.option('--password', required=True, help='Password for the connection.')
-@click.option('--connection_url', required=True, help='Connection URL.')
+@click.option('--username',
+              default=lambda: os.getenv("GRIDAPPSD_USER"),
+              metavar='USERNAME',
+              type=str,
+              help='Username for the connection.',
+              show_default="from environment variable GRIDAPPSD_USER")
+@click.option('--password',
+              metavar='PASSWORD',
+              type=str,
+              default=lambda: os.getenv("GRIDAPPSD_PASSWORD"), 
+              help='Password for the connection.',
+              show_default="from environment variable GRIDAPPSD_PASSWORD")
+@click.option('--connection_url', 
+              default=lambda: os.getenv("GRIDAPPSD_ADDRESS"),
+              type=str,
+              metavar='URL',
+              show_default="from environment variable GRIDAPPSD_ADDRESS",
+              help='Connection URL.')
 def start_forwarder(username, password, connection_url):
     """Start the field proxy forwarder with either a YAML configuration or cmd-line arguments."""
 
+    required = [username, password, connection_url]
+    if not all(required):
+        click.echo("Username, password, and connection URL must be provided either through environment variables or command-line arguments.")
+        click.Abort()
+
+    parsed = urllib.parse.urlparse(connection_url)
+    if not (parsed.hostname and parsed.port):
+        click.echo("Invalid connection URL. It must include both hostname and port.")
+        click.Abort()
+
     # Use command-line arguments
     click.echo(f"Using command line arguments: {username}, {password}, {connection_url}")
 
@@ -25,4 +52,5 @@ def start_forwarder(username, password, connection_url):
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
+    load_dotenv()
     start_forwarder()
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/gridappsd-field-bus-lib/pyproject.toml b/gridappsd-field-bus-lib/pyproject.toml
index b1be42b..5ac3c68 100644
--- a/gridappsd-field-bus-lib/pyproject.toml
+++ b/gridappsd-field-bus-lib/pyproject.toml
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@ python = ">=3.10,<4.0"
 gridappsd-python = ">=2025.3.1a1"
 cim-graph = ">=0.2.2a4"
 click = "^8.1.8"
-"python-dotenv" = "^1.0.1"
 
 [tool.poetry.scripts]
 # Add things in the form
diff --git a/gridappsd-python-lib/example.env b/gridappsd-python-lib/example.env
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d3cd3c7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gridappsd-python-lib/example.env
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+GRIDAPPSD_USER=
+GRIDAPPSD_PASSWORD=
+GRIDAPPSD_ADDRESS = tcp://127.0.0.1:61613
+DATABASE = powergridmodel
diff --git a/gridappsd-python-lib/gridappsd/__main__.py b/gridappsd-python-lib/gridappsd/__main__.py
index 9a3ed57..fe35629 100644
--- a/gridappsd-python-lib/gridappsd/__main__.py
+++ b/gridappsd-python-lib/gridappsd/__main__.py
@@ -44,10 +44,12 @@
 from argparse import ArgumentParser
 from time import sleep
 import yaml
+from dotenv import load_dotenv
+from pathlib import Path
 
 from gridappsd import GridAPPSD
 
-assert sys.version_info >= (3, 6), "Minimum version is python 3.6"
+assert sys.version_info >= (3, 10), "Minimum version is python 3.10"
 
 logging.basicConfig(stream=sys.stdout,
                     level=logging.INFO,
@@ -65,7 +67,9 @@
                        "--run-simulation",
                        type=argparse.FileType('r'),
                        help="Start running a simulation from a passed simulation file.")
-
+    group.add_argument("--env", required=False, type=str,
+                       default=".env",
+                       help="Load environment variables from a .env file.")
     opts = parser.parse_args()
 
     if opts.run_simulation:
@@ -75,6 +79,15 @@ def next_timestep(simulation, timestep):
             sleep(1)
             simulation.resume()
 
+        if opts.env:
+            _log.info(f"Loading environment variables from {opts.env}")
+            env_path = Path(opts.env).expanduser()
+            if env_path.is_file():
+                load_dotenv(opts.env)
+            else:
+                _log.error(f"Environment file {opts.env} not found. Skipping loading.")
+                sys.exit(1)
+
         gappsd = GridAPPSD()
         run_args = yaml.safe_load(opts.run_simulation)
 
diff --git a/gridappsd-python-lib/pyproject.toml b/gridappsd-python-lib/pyproject.toml
index 6caa2e1..7050a0e 100644
--- a/gridappsd-python-lib/pyproject.toml
+++ b/gridappsd-python-lib/pyproject.toml
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@ pytz = "^2022.7"
 dateutils = "^0.6.7"
 stomp-py = "6.0.0"
 requests = "2.28.2"
+dotenv = "^0.9.9"
+loguru = "^0.7.3"
 
 [tool.poetry.group.dev.dependencies]
 pytest = "^8.3.4"
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 0eb9d67..8299e6e 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ readme = "README.md"
 [tool.poetry.dependencies]
 python = ">=3.10,<4.0"
 
+
 [build-system]
 requires = ["poetry-core>=2.0.0"]
 build-backend = "poetry.core.masonry.api"