Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG)

Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG)

At Williams, we understand the direct link between sustainable business operations, corporate stewardship and long-term financial success. By integrating ESG practices throughout the company and into our everyday operations, we hold ourselves accountable through transparent interactions with customers, employees and shareholders.

As the first North American midstream company to announce comprehensive and actionable climate targets, Williams is committed to addressing climate change in a pragmatic and economically feasible manner to successfully leverage our natural gas-focused business to reduce emissions and build a clean energy economy. By setting a near-term goal of a 56% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 as part of our climate commitment, Williams is well in line with the country’s recently announced Nationally Determined Contribution target of a 50-52% emissions reduction by 2030.

We believe that no energy infrastructure system is better positioned to facilitate the meaningful introduction of renewables both into the existing natural gas mix as well as identifying dedicated point-to-point solutions. Natural gas-powered generation of electricity brings reliability to the U.S. electric power grid and allows for growth in renewable forms of energy.

Future Innovations and Technologies

We are looking forward to and anticipating future innovations and technologies that we can use on our key energy networks to build a clean energy economy. 

In partnership with the University of Wyoming, Williams has received a grant from the State of Wyoming to fund a feasibility study to pursue a pilot program that would evaluate the creation of a green hydrogen hub near our operations in Wyoming. 

Williams is a member of the Clean Hydrogen Future Coalition that was launched to advance clean hydrogen as a key pathway to achieving global decarbonization and U.S. energy competitiveness. We are also members of the RNG Coalition, which advocates and educates for sustainable development, deployment and utilization of renewable natural gas. 

As the first midstream corporate partner at Greentown Labs of Houston, the city’s first-ever clean energy-focused startup incubator, Williams is supporting cleantech entrepreneurship that will accelerate the transition to a low carbon future.

Solar: We are investing up to $400 million in projects across nine states spanning our footprint to supply electricity to our facilities. We have been identifying locations where solar power installations are both economical and can be primarily sited on company-owned land. We expect the first of these facilities to come online in 2023. Investments in intermittent solar power are made viable by the benefits of combined cycle back-up on the grid and tax credits.

Renewable Natural Gas: Williams is increasing the delivery of renewable natural gas (RNG) by partnering with energy companies in Washington, Idaho, Ohio, and Texas to transport methane emissions captured from landfills or dairy farms. Williams’ Northwest Pipeline is interconnected with four RNG facilities, of which two were brought online in the past year, and we are aggressively pursuing additional RNG partnership opportunities. Renewable natural gas is pipeline-quality natural gas and is often used for transportation fuels and sometimes called “waste to wheels.”

Clean Hydrogen: Williams’ nationwide footprint is well-positioned with end-use demand, particularly in highly populated areas, to participate in hydrogen-based energy storage and transport. Our ability to blend hydrogen into our existing system is a significant advantage and has the potential to accelerate the use of hydrogen in reducing carbon emissions.

ESG Ratings and Rankings

Key ranking groups like Dow Jones Sustainability Index, CDP, Sustainalytics and MSCI are recognizing Williams’ commitment to transparency around environmental, social and governance performance (ESG).

Williams’ score signifies the company is taking coordinated action on climate change.

ESG Midstream Industry Collaboration

Williams recently co-led an initiative through the Energy Infrastructure Council (EIC) and GPA Midstream to launch the first-ever Midstream Company ESG Reporting Template. The tool allows midstream energy infrastructure companies to present their sustainability metrics that matter most to investors in a transparent and comparable way.

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