Former Williams CEO Alan Armstrong Becomes U.S. Senator from OK
Today, Alan Armstrong, the former CEO of Williams, will be sworn in on the Senate floor as the newest U.S. Senator for Oklahoma, replacing Markwayne Mullin, who was officially voted on (accepted by) the Senate yesterday to replace Kristi Noem as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. While it will be great to have someone with Armstrong’s energy knowledge and pedigree in the highest halls of power, there is one problem with Armstrong as the next Senator from Oklahoma. Read More “Former Williams CEO Alan Armstrong Becomes U.S. Senator from OK”
Here we go again: another rebranding of ESG and another attempt to brand natural gas as low-emissions, clean, and green. Pipeline giant Williams has launched what it calls its NextGen Gas program to offer “verified lower-emissions natural gas from wellhead to market.” NextGen Gas measures methane and carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions intensity from wellhead to market, increasing transparency into how natural gas is produced and delivered along a specific gas pathway. 
Just coming to light for us now is that Iroquois Gas Transmission System petitioned the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in February to reissue authorization for the $152 million Wright Interconnect Project in New York State, aiming to revive a critical link for the previously canceled Constitution Pipeline. Originally approved in 2014, the project seeks to establish a new receipt interconnection and compression facilities at the Wright Compressor Station. By creating 650,000 dekatherms per day (650 MMcf/d) of transportation capacity, the initiative intends to alleviate persistent natural gas supply constraints in the Northeast and New England markets. If approved, the project targets a May 2028 in-service date, utilizing existing company-owned infrastructure to minimize environmental impacts. 
Pipeline giant Williams issued its fourth quarter and full-year 2025 update last week. The company forecasts 2026 profits exceeding analysts’ expectations, driven by surging natural gas demand from AI data centers and crypto mining. Williams is aggressively expanding its footprint, with 7.1 Bcf/d of pipeline projects currently underway and new gas-fired power plants such as the $1.3 billion “Socrates the Younger” project. The company plans to invest up to $6.7 billion in 2026 capital spending to capitalize on the sustained, long-term need for gas infrastructure and power growth. 
Pipeline giant Williams Companies is exploring a strategic return to natural gas production to create an integrated “one-stop shop” for AI hyperscalers and data center operators. By potentially acquiring upstream assets to complement its 33,000-mile pipeline network and new power-generation projects such as the Socrates facility in Ohio, Williams aims to offer a turnkey energy solution that bypasses traditional grid constraints. This move toward a “bundled” model reverses a decade of industry specialization, positioning the firm to capitalize on the massive power demands of artificial intelligence. Investors are watching for official confirmation during the company’s 2026 analyst day tomorrow. 
In December, MDN reported that pipeline giant Williams, through its new subsidiary, Will-Power, plans to build a third gas-fired power plant to power a Meta (Facebook) data center complex in Bowling Green, OH (see 
Two pipeline kingpins are engaged in a deathmatch with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to get their competing pipeline projects approved. One is Williams’ Transco Southeast Supply Enhancement Project (SESE), the other is EQT’s MVP Southgate project (see 
Pipeline giant Williams is going on a PR offensive to pressure New York State to approve the 125-mile (99 miles in NY) Constitution Pipeline from the prolific gas fields of Susquehanna County, PA, into and through New York State, to Schoharie County, where it would connect with two other interstate pipeline systems to flow molecules to New York City and New England. On its blog site, Williams recently published a post titled “Winter storms underscore why infrastructure is needed,” with the subtitle “Severe cold underscores need for Constitution Pipeline.” 
Reverting back to true form by obsequiously bowing to environmental extremists, New York Governor Kathy Hochul ordered her lapdogs at the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to log an objection with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to a request by Williams to resurrect the Constitution Pipeline project. Even though Hochul bartered a deal with President Trump to allow this pipeline (see 
In November of last year, both New York and New Jersey issued the required federal water permits for the Williams Transco Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) natural gas pipeline project (see 
In 2015, a group of landowners in northeastern Pennsylvania who had leased their land for fracking filed a lawsuit against Chesapeake Energy, Anadarko, Statoil (now Equinor), Mitsui E&P, and Access Midstream (later bought by Williams), alleging the companies had improperly deducted post-production costs (e.g., gas gathering and transportation expenses) from royalties owed to the landowners in breach of their respective leases. The lawsuit also alleged collusion and conspiracy to defraud the landowners (antitrust violations). The lawsuit was on hold for many years while other lawsuits played out. In 2024, a federal court in Scranton unpaused the lawsuit, and the judge ruled, tossing out the landowners’ royalty claims (see 
In early April, MDN brought you the exciting news that pipeline giant Williams, via its newly-minted subsidiary, Will-Power, is planning to build two Utica/Marcellus gas-fired power plants in the New Albany International Business Park in Licking County, Ohio, near Columbus, to power a massive new Meta (Facebook) data center complex (see 
When the Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line (Transco) was placed into service in 1950, it was hailed as the longest pipeline in the world and the largest single-project construction venture ever attempted. Today, Transco, now owned by Williams, transports about 16% of the natural gas consumed in the United States. More than a single pipeline, Transco is a network stretching nearly 10,000 miles, connecting South Texas to New York. It’s hard to overstate the importance of this pipeline system to the country and to the Marcellus/Utica region. It carries an estimated 4.0 to 4.5 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of M-U molecules every day. We have written over 1,100 posts on MDN, either focusing on or prominently mentioning Transco (