Williams Companies chairman says pipeline projects critical to lowering energy costs in U.S. markets

As energy demand grows in the U.S., Williams Companies Chairman Alan Armstrong says natural gas pipelines remain a crucial but politically difficult solution, especially for high-cost markets like the Northeast.

Speaking with Scott Mitchell on News 9’s Hot Seat, Armstrong discussed the challenges Williams has faced building new pipeline infrastructure, despite access to some of the lowest-cost natural gas in the world, much of it gathered by Williams from producers like Expand Energy in Bradford County, Pennsylvania.

“Yet 130 miles away, we have some of the most expensive energy prices anywhere in the country,” Armstrong said. “Because we’ve not allowed ourselves to build the infrastructure into those markets.”

Pipeline roadblocks and energy irony

Armstrong reflected on past efforts to build the Constitution Pipeline, a project aimed at transporting low-cost gas to New England. He said that while the region depends heavily on fuel oil and imported LNG, political resistance to natural gas infrastructure halted the project.

“But I went and met with him, and to his credit, he was frank and clear in his perspective on the issue,” Armstrong said. "He said, 'Alan, we know your natural gas is a lot lower cost energy source, but we don't really want it because we want to be able to invest in higher technology resources for the future.”

Armstrong added that just last year, Connecticut’s governor called him through a connection from Oklahoma’s governor, asking why pipeline companies wouldn’t build into the region.

NESI Project may move forward in New York

Armstrong said he’s more optimistic about a current Williams project called NESI, which would loop an existing pipeline through New York Harbor and into Brooklyn and the Bronx. He credited recent productive talks with New York Governor Kathy Hochul.

"I do think that project's going to get built, several good conversations with the governor, with her expressing her support for doing whatever it will take to get us to get those pipelines built,” Armstrong said.

Armstrong emphasized that the push for pipeline infrastructure isn’t about undercutting renewable energy projects like wind, but about balancing costs and reliability in urban areas with high energy demands.

“They're having to carry LNG by truck across their bridges in New York City to be able to make deliveries and hold gas pressure into that market,” Armstrong said. "It's probably close to 500 trucks for the entire area that are running around the clock feeding gas because we're unwilling to take the political medicine of building pipelines."