About
The Domestic Energy Producers Alliance (DEPA) is a nationwide coalition of 39 fossil fuel producers, royalty owners, oilfield service companies, and state and independent oil and natural gas associations. Although it likes to refer to its activities as “grassroots,” its members are all fully committed to making a profit from domestic fossil fuel production.
Many members of DEPA’s executive committee and board of directors are directly tied to other right-wing organizations. Harold Hamm, a major GOP donor and board member of the pro-Trump America First Works, is chairman of DEPA’s executive committee. He is also the founder and current board chair of Continental Resources, one of the country’s largest independent oil and natural gas exploration and production companies, which has in the past had a seat on the Energy, Environment, and Agriculture task force of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).
DEPA’s 30-member board of directors is composed of representatives of other fossil fuel interest groups and investment firms, including the Energy Equipment and Infrastructure Alliance, the Petroleum Association of Wyoming, and the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers. Jerry Simmons, its president and CEO, and two other DEPA board members, Ron Ness and Diana Chance, serve on the board of the pro-Israel, pro-fossil fuel Council for a Secure America.
In November 2022, Simmons sent a DEPA coalition letter to Republican leaders in Congress shortly after the GOP won a slight House majority in the midterms urging increased ESG oversight.
In January 2023, DEPA urged ALEC’s board of directors to reconsider adopting a model policy to blacklist companies that choose to limit their business dealings with fossil fuel producers.
In February 2023, Simmons signed an Advancing American Freedom coalition letter to Congress asking it to “overturn the Biden administration’s dangerous ESG rule through the Congressional Review Act.”
Operatives
- CEO and President Jerry Simmons
Top Funders
DEPA is primarily funded through membership dues, but it does not disclose its members or funders.
Core Financials
- Total revenue: $749,543
- Total expenses: $697,340
- Net assets: $729,144
Source: 2022 IRS 990 filing