Benjamin Ashby Hardesty

Ben Hardesty is the owner and CEO of Alta Energy LLC, a consulting firm focused on oil, natural gas and energy infrastructure based in Clarksburg, West Virginia. Prior to founding Alta Energy Hardesty was the President of Dominion E&P, Inc. and affiliated Dominion Energy companies from 1995 to 2010. Earlier in his career Hardesty was the President of Stonewall Gas Company and co-founder of Development Drilling Corp.

Hardesty has served on the Antero Resources Corporation since its IPO in 2013 and is the Lead Director. He was a member of the Board of Directors of KLX Energy Services from 2014-2020. He has served on the boards of many private energy and financial companies.

Hardesty serves on the Visiting Committee of the WVU Department of Petroleum & Natural Gas Engineering, Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources.

A 1972 graduate of WVU, Hardesty was a member of Mountain, Sphinx and Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. He was an elected member of the Student Legislature and the WVU Athletic Council. A Distinguished Military Student in ROTC, he went on to serve as an active duty and reserve Army officer. After military service, Hardesty was on the staff of a member of Congress and earned his MS degree from The George Washington University.

Hardesty has served as the President of the Independent O&G Association of West Virginia and West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association. He has been the President of the Harrison County Chamber of Commerce and currently serves as a board member of the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce. Hardesty is a Trustee Emeritus and past chair of The Nature Conservancy of West Virginia. An Eagle Scout, he served as President of the Central West Virginia Council, BSA and as a Cubmaster. Hardesty serves on the Advisory Committee of the Mountaineer Area Council, BSA. He has served in leadership position with Christ Episcopal Church in Clarksburg and the Episcopal Diocese of West Virginia. An active alpine mountaineer, Hardesty has climbed mountains around the world.

Hardesty has been honored as the West Virginia O&G Man of the Year and was inducted into the West Virginia Business Hall of Fame and the WVU Petroleum & Natural Gas Engineering Academy.

Hardesty and his wife Jeanie live in Clarksburg and are the proud parents of three children and five grandchildren.