Natural gas and the infrastructure that moves it are necessary for the sustainable growth of renewables and electrification, while also driving displacement of carbon-heavy fuels both in the United States and overseas. That’s what Williams leaders told Wall Street analysts during investor-focused presentations at the New York Stock Exchange.
“Natural gas is the solution for the most complex challenge that our civilization has today: producing low-cost energy resources that keep our world peaceful on one hand; and on the other hand, being able to reduce emissions around the world,” President & CEO Alan Armstrong told investors. “That is not a small problem, it’s a huge problem and natural gas is the most powerful tool by far that we have right here, right now.”
Shifting from coal to natural gas to generate electricity in the United States has significantly reduced emissions since 2005 – the equivalent of removing nearly every gasoline-powered car on the road today in the U.S. And it’s economics driving this transition, not subsidies or governmental intervention, said Armstrong, and there are still 230 operating coal plants in the country.
“We still have so much to do in terms of reducing emissions here in the U.S.,” said Armstrong. “The infrastructure that we have today and the capacities that we have on our systems are going to be absolutely critical to both backing up renewables and to replace coal fire generation in the markets.”
On a global scale, coal-to-gas switching is even more powerful. Converting the top 5 percent of the highest carbon emitting power plants around the world would reduce emissions from power generation by 30 percent, said Armstrong.
“Think about what a powerful tool that is and come up with any other solution that’s out there that you could actually go in and tackle power generation emissions that quickly on an economic basis,” he said. “Natural gas is not going to be able to be dismissed. It’s not just a bridge fuel. It is going to be here for a long, long time, and it is going to deliver energy security, affordability and emissions reductions all in the same package.”
The important role natural gas plays in today’s energy mix shone through in Williams’ 2022 performance as the company once again moved record volumes of natural gas and exceeded financial goals. Williams also executed three strategic acquisitions that bolster its ability to deliver growth through a variety of macroeconomic conditions.
“It has been the great team that I get to work with that has continued to deliver on the execution of this business day in and day out,” said Alan.
Read more about full-year 2022 results for Williams here.