Natural gas infrastructure is key to meeting both today’s energy demand as well as future growth of electrification and the buildout of renewables, said Williams President & CEO Alan Armstrong, during the company’s second quarter 2023 earnings webcast.

“Simply put, you cannot implement and accelerate wind, solar and large-scale electrification without having natural gas as a reliable, complementary partner to these big system changes,” Armstrong told Wall Street analysts.

“In fact, despite continued growth in solar and wind capacity, the country saw record natural gas power demand in July, reaching as high as 53 Bcf/d last week to meet peak summer power loads,” he said. “If we truly want to meet our country’s growing power demand for things like data centers and electric vehicles and accelerate wind and solar power generation, we must continue increasing natural gas infrastructure capacity.”

Armstrong said Williams is positioned to meet current and future energy needs, while progressing toward climate goals detailed in the company’s latest Sustainability Report.

“As we continue expanding to serve growing markets, we’re also investing in a multi-year modernization program of our large-scale transmission systems, which will reduce emissions and increase earnings. Our recently issued Sustainability Report details this progress as well as ongoing efforts to support communities, environmental stewardship and workforce development and diversity.”

Read the press release about Williams second-quarter 2023 results here.