威廉斯 (WMB) 2025 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, everyone, and welcome to The Williams first-quarter 2025 earnings conference call. Today's conference is being recorded. At this time, for opening remarks and introductions, I would like to turn the call over to Mr. Danilo Juvane, Vice President of Investor Relations, ESG, and Investment Analysis. Please go ahead.

大家好，歡迎參加威廉斯 2025 年第一季財報電話會議。今天的會議正在錄製中。現在，為了致開幕詞和介紹，我想將電話轉給投資者關係、ESG 和投資分析副總裁 Danilo Juvane 先生。請繼續。

Thanks, Ari, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us and for your interest in The Williams Companies. Yesterday afternoon, we released our earnings press release and the presentation that our President and CEO, Alan Armstrong; and our Chief Financial Officer, John Porter, will speak to this morning. Also joining us on the call today are Larry Larsen, our Chief Operating Officer; Lane Wilson, our General Counsel; and Chad Zamarin, our Executive Vice President of Corporate Strategic Development.

謝謝，阿里，大家早安。感謝您加入我們並對威廉斯公司感興趣。昨天下午，我們發布了收益新聞稿以及總裁兼首席執行官艾倫·阿姆斯特朗和首席財務官約翰·波特將於今天上午發表演講的演示文稿。參加今天電話會議的還有我們的營運長拉里·拉森 (Larry Larsen)、我們的總法律顧問萊恩·威爾遜 (Lane Wilson) 和我們的企業策略發展執行副總裁查德·紮馬林 (Chad Zamarin)。

In our presentation materials, you'll find a disclaimer related to forward-looking statements. This disclaimer is important and integral to our remarks, and you should review it. Also included in our presentation materials are non-GAAP measures that we reconciled to generally accepted accounting principles. And these reconciliation schedules appear at the back of today's presentation materials.

在我們的簡報資料中，您會發現與前瞻性陳述相關的免責聲明。此免責聲明對於我們的評論至關重要且不可或缺，您應該仔細閱讀。我們的簡報資料中還包括與公認會計原則相協調的非 GAAP 指標。這些對帳時間表出現在今天的簡報資料的後面。

So with that, I'll turn it over to Alan Armstrong.

因此，我將把發言權交給艾倫·阿姆斯特朗。

Okay. Well, thanks, Danilo, and thank you, all, for joining us today. We do have a very positive story to share with you on our first-quarter performance, which was really driven by the exceptional results within our base business in this quarter.

好的。好吧，謝謝達尼洛，也謝謝大家今天加入我們。關於我們第一季的業績，我們確實有一個非常積極的故事可以與大家分享，這實際上是由本季度我們基礎業務的出色業績推動的。

So -- but before I dive into my remarks, I do want to welcome Larry Larsen, our new Chief Operating Officer, to the call. This is technically day two for Larry. But he's been a valuable member of The Williams team for more than 25 years. So I know you're going to come to value his perspective and knowledge of our operations just as you have enjoyed that from Michael Dunn, who did retire this past Friday.

所以——但在我深入發言之前，我想歡迎我們的新任營運長拉里·拉森 (Larry Larsen) 參加電話會議。從技術上來說，這是拉里的第二天。但 25 年來，他一直是威廉斯車隊的寶貴成員。所以我知道你們會重視他的觀點和對我們營運的了解，就像你們欣賞上週五退休的麥可鄧恩一樣。

So Larry has served as an important member of Michael's leadership team over the past several years. So this will be a seamless transition, with Larry carrying forward the commitment to excellence that Michael had established in all aspects of our operations.

因此，在過去幾年裡，拉里一直擔任邁克爾領導團隊的重要成員。因此這將是一次無縫過渡，拉里將繼承邁克爾在我們運營的各個方面所樹立的追求卓越的承諾。

Obviously, some other leadership changes to hit on, but I'll save my remarks on that matter for the end of the call. So beginning here on slide 2, it really is staggering when you step back and consider all the facets of our businesses that are providing high-return growth opportunities.

顯然，還有一些其他領導層變動需要討論，但我將把對此事的評論留到通話結束時再談。因此，從第二張投影片開始，當您回顧並考慮我們業務的各個方面所提供的高回報成長機會時，您確實會感到震驚。

The positive results in the near term, like the 9% growth this year, coupled with an improved credit rating already, continue to speak for themselves. But the continued string of very high-return projects suggests that we are in the early innings of this long horizon of growth. So let me just share a few of the drivers for my optimism on this level of growth continuing.

近期的正面成果，例如今年 9% 的成長率，加上信用評級的提高，不言而喻。但持續不斷的高回報項目表明，我們正處於這一長期成長的早期階段。因此，請容許我分享一些讓我對這種成長水準持續保持樂觀的因素。

First, we will be a big beneficiary of the fast-rising data center power load. And we are very encouraged by the uptake we are seeing on the new model we have brought to market and the indirect business we are seeing on our gas transmission systems, that is showing up as very high-return large-scale expansions. Socrates is our first example on the direct service front.

首先，我們將成為資料中心電力負荷快速上升的巨大受益者。我們對我們推向市場的新模式和天然氣輸送系統的間接業務感到非常鼓舞，這些都表現為回報極高的大規模擴張。蘇格拉底是我們在直接服務的第一個例子。

And we talked first about this project during our earnings call in February. And since then, we have fully contracted this project that will deliver speed-to-market solutions for the growing data center demand in Ohio. Williams will invest approximately $1.6 billion to provide committed power generation and associated gas pipeline infrastructure for our customer in this area. And the project is backed by a 10-year fixed-price power purchase agreement, with an opportunity to extend the contract for another five years and beyond.

我們在二月的收益電話會議上首次討論了這個項目。從那時起，我們就全面承包了這個項目，該項目將為俄亥俄州日益增長的資料中心需求提供快速上市的解決方案。威廉斯將投資約 16 億美元為該地區的客戶提供專用發電和相關天然氣管道基礎設施。該專案附有為期 10 年的固定價格購電協議，並有機會將合約延長 5 年甚至更久。

Importantly, we expect the project to generate earnings consistent with a 5 times EBITDA build multiple, an impressive return given the low-risk nature of the power purchase agreement and the fact that this project does not leverage Williams' existing asset footprint to a meaningful degree. We are full steam ahead on this project and anticipate completing the build-out in the second half of 2026.

重要的是，我們預計該項目將產生與 5 倍 EBITDA 建設倍數一致的收益，考慮到電力購買協議的低風險性質以及該項目不會在很大程度上利用威廉姆斯現有的資產足跡這一事實，這是一個令人印象深刻的回報。我們正在全力推進這個項目，預計將於 2026 年下半年完成建設。

We also have two other projects that are utilizing the same model in flight now and have ordered equipment that has the same backstopping agreements that we used in the original Socrates project. Much more to come on this. But it is clear that we have a model that works for this customer base, and the opportunities are developing fast in the space.

我們還有另外兩個項目正在飛行中使用相同的模型，並訂購了與我們在原始蘇格拉底項目中使用的具有相同支持協議的設備。關於這一點，後面還會有更多內容。但很明顯，我們有一個適合這個客戶群的模型，而該領域的機會正在快速發展。

Next, on the indirect side, we are pleased to announce Transco's Power Express pipeline, a 950-million-cubic-feet-per-day expansion to markets north of Station 165, helping to serve the power-hungry Virginia area. The project is backed by a significant commitment from an anchor shipper and will utilize existing right of ways and infrastructure to dramatically reduce permitting risk and provide scalability. This project will provide the same kind of return as our SESE project, and the demand for this capacity has been robust.

接下來，在間接方面，我們很高興地宣布 Transco 的 Power Express 管道，該管道每天向 165 號站以北的市場輸送 9.5 億立方英尺的電力，幫助滿足弗吉尼亞電力需求大的區域。該項目得到了主要托運人的大力支持，並將利用現有的通行權和基礎設施大幅降低許可風險並提供可擴展性。該專案將提供與我們的 SESE 專案相同的回報，並且對這種容量的需求一直很強勁。

And finally, we acquired a 10% interest in Cogentrix Energy, closing on this deal in early March. This investment enhances our Sequent market intelligence and gives Williams insight into how to better serve the emerging power markets with natural gas supply. Importantly, we are excited to be working with the Quantum team on this business and to ensure that the gas supply is optimized for these gas-fired power plants.

最後，我們收購了 Cogentrix Energy 10% 的股權，並於 3 月初完成這筆交易。這項投資增強了我們的 Sequent 市場情報，並讓 Williams 了解如何透過天然氣供應更好地服務新興電力市場。重要的是，我們很高興能與 Quantum 團隊合作開展這項業務，並確保為這些燃氣發電廠優化天然氣供應。

Next, turning to our operational execution. Our team continues to flawlessly deliver on a string of high-return projects that will accelerate earnings growth throughout the balance of the year. This quarter, we successfully placed two projects into service, the Southeast Energy Connector in Alabama and the Texas-to-Louisiana Energy Pathway along the Gulf Coast.

接下來談談我們的營運執行。我們的團隊繼續完美地完成一系列高回報項目，這將加速全年的獲利成長。本季度，我們成功投入使用兩個項目，即阿拉巴馬州的東南能源連接器和墨西哥灣沿岸的德克薩斯州至路易斯安那州能源通道。

These fully contracted Transco expansions were designed to reduce land use and minimize community and environmental impacts, while also delivering clean and affordable natural gas volumes to the region. These projects demonstrate both LNG export growth and coal-to-gas conversion opportunities.

這些完全承包的 Transco 擴建項目旨在減少土地使用並最大限度地減少對社區和環境的影響，同時為該地區提供清潔且價格合理的天然氣。這些項目既體現了液化天然氣出口的成長，也體現了煤轉氣的機會。

Our project execution team continues to deliver on projects throughout this year, starting construction on another expansion in the Southeast on Transco, the LEG project in Haynesville, and out West, on our Overthrust Westbound Expansion. These projects represent nearly 2 Bcf a day coming online for the balance of this year.

我們的專案執行團隊今年將繼續完成該項目，開始在東南部的 Transco 進行另一項擴建工程、在 Haynesville 進行 LEG 項目，以及在西部進行 Overthrust Westbound Expansion 工程。這些項目意味著今年剩餘時間每天將有近20億立方英尺的天然氣投入使用。

Also, in the deepwater -- the deepwater really is coming on strong this year and shows no signs of slowing down. We recently completed two expansions that add significant earnings growth. The Whale expansion went into service in the first quarter and has been ramping up through the first quarter. And Chevron's Ballymore started up two weeks ago.

此外，在深水領域——今年深水領域確實發展強勁，並且沒有放緩的跡象。我們最近完成了兩項擴張，帶來了顯著的獲利成長。Whale 擴建計畫於第一季投入使用，並在第一季持續推進。雪佛龍的 Ballymore 已於兩週前投產。

Both of these prospects are large scale and will be significant contributors for the balance of the year. Additionally, in the deepwater, both the Shenandoah and Salamanca floaters are now being commissioned. And these will drive significant cash flows across our discovery assets, which is now wholly owned. These projects are expected to make meaningful contributions in the third quarter.

這兩個前景都規模龐大，將對今年的平衡做出重大貢獻。此外，在深水區，Shenandoah 和 Salamanca 浮式鑽井平台目前均已投入使用。這些將推動我們目前全資擁有的發現資產的大量現金流。預計這些項目將在第三季做出有意義的貢獻。

And finally, let me just hit on a few key financial highlights from the quarter before I turn it over to John to walk through the results in detail. First of all, we are raising our adjusted EBITDA guidance midpoint by $50 million to $7.7 billion, driven by our strong base business performance and our Cogentrix investment addition.

最後，在交給約翰詳細介紹結果之前，請容許我先介紹本季的幾個關鍵財務亮點。首先，我們將調整後的 EBITDA 指引中點提高 5,000 萬美元至 77 億美元，這得益於我們強勁的基礎業務表現和對 Cogentrix 的投資增加。

Our CapEx increase of $925 million reflects the update that we provided with the announcement of our Socrates project. And also, in recognition of the resilient business model and balance sheet strength, we received an S&P credit rating upgrade to BBB+ during the quarter and very recently, were assigned a positive outlook by Moody's.

我們的資本支出增加了 9.25 億美元，反映了我們在宣布蘇格拉底項目時提供的最新資訊。此外，由於我們擁有穩健的商業模式和強勁的資產負債表，標準普爾在本季度將我們的信用評級上調至 BBB+，而最近，穆迪又給予我們正面展望。

The strength of the base business was really the story in the first quarter, with both the Transmission and Gulf hitting new-record EBITDA and strong rebounds from the West and Northeast gathering. In the Transmission and Gulf, this record was driven by both record contract gas transmission capacity and record gathering processing and storage fee-based revenue.

基礎業務的強勁表現才是第一季真正的亮點，變速箱和海灣業務的 EBITDA 均創下新高，西部和東北部市場也出現強勁反彈。在輸氣和墨西哥灣地區，這項紀錄是由創紀錄的合約天然氣輸送能力和創紀錄的收集、處理和儲存費用收入所推動的。

So the transmission business, we again saw now a record in the long-term transmission capacity, but also saw the fee-based revenue gather in the deepwater and in our storage business pick up. In the West, it was driven by strong gathering volume rebounds and bolt-on acquisitions. Given the strong volumes we are currently seeing, we expect to see more records surpassed again in the second quarter.

因此，在輸電業務方面，我們再次看到長期輸電容量創下新高，同時也看到收費收入在深水區聚集，儲存業務也在回升。在西方，這是由強勁的採集量反彈和附加收購所推動的。鑑於我們目前看到的強勁交易量，我們預計第二季將再次突破更多紀錄。

Speaking of the second quarter, this marks the 37th consecutive quarter of meeting or beating consensus, and that is -- on top of this was the eighth time that we've raised our guidance during the same period. So lastly, we increased Williams quarterly dividend in the quarter, up 5.3% to $0.50 per share and demonstrating continued commitment to Williams' long-standing and well-covered dividend program.

說到第二季度，這標誌著我們連續第 37 個季度達到或超過預期，而且這也是我們在同一時期第八次上調預期。最後，我們在本季度提高了威廉斯的季度股息，上漲 5.3% 至每股 0.50 美元，並表明了我們對威廉斯長期且完善的股息計劃的持續承諾。

And with that, I'm going to turn it over to John.

現在，我要把發言權交給約翰。

All right. Thanks, Alan. Starting here on slide 3 with a closer look at our adjusted EBITDA performance, which was up 3% over the first quarter of 2024. Excluding the Marketing business, our adjusted EBITDA was up 5% with growth across all the other segments. Our overall first-quarter '25 results were basically right on top of our business plan.

好的。謝謝，艾倫。從投影片 3 開始，仔細看看我們的調整後 EBITDA 表現，該表現比 2024 年第一季成長了 3%。除行銷業務外，我們的調整後 EBITDA 成長了 5%，其他所有部門均實現成長。我們 25 年第一季的整體業績基本上符合我們的業務計劃。

Additionally, I will note that our business plan anticipated our first quarter to show the least amount of quarterly growth over '24, with our forward 2Q through 4Q '25 quarters each showing substantially higher growth rates. In other words, we expect growth over the prior year will accelerate each quarter through the remainder of the year. I'll address our current thoughts on full-year performance in a moment.

此外，我要指出的是，我們的業務計劃預計第一季的季度成長率將是24年中最低的，而從第二季到第四季的25個季度的成長率都將大幅提高。換句話說，我們預計今年剩餘時間內每季的成長速度都將比去年同期加快。我稍後會談談我們目前對全年業績的想法。

Walking now from last year's $1.934 billion to this year's record $1.989 billion, we start with our Transmission and Gulf business, which improved $23 million or 3%, setting an all-time record due primarily to higher revenues from expansion projects. At Transco, we had increases from Regional Energy Access, Southside Reliability Enhancement, and partial quarter contributions from Carolina Market Link.

從去年的 19.34 億美元到今年創紀錄的 19.89 億美元，我們的變速箱和海灣業務首先增長了 2300 萬美元或 3%，創下了歷史新高，這主要歸功於擴建項目的收入增加。在 Transco，我們獲得了區域能源接入、南區可靠性增強以及卡羅來納市場連結部分季度貢獻的成長。

We also continue to see growth from our storage businesses with renewals at Gulf Coast Storage and NorTex coming in at higher rates as we had expected from those two acquisitions, as well as incremental contributions from our market-based rate at our Washington storage facility.

我們的儲存業務也持續成長，Gulf Coast Storage 和 NorTex 的續約費率正如我們對這兩筆收購所預期的那樣有所提高，同時我們華盛頓儲存設施的市場費率也帶來了增量貢獻。

In the Gulf, we saw contributions from our Discovery acquisition as well as initial contributions from our Whale project, that were partially offset by some maintenance and producer issues. Even with those issues, we saw about a 12% increase in Gulf gathering volumes and about 42% higher NGL production.

在墨西哥灣，我們看到了來自 Discovery 收購的貢獻以及來自 Whale 項目的初始貢獻，但這些貢獻被一些維護和生產商問題部分抵消。即使有這些問題，我們仍然看到墨西哥灣的集氣量增加了約 12%，NGL 產量增加了約 42%。

Lastly, for this segment, I'll just note that although our new Transco rates went into effect on March 1, you're not really seeing much of an impact here, as we continue to maintain a conservative reserve pending the final settlement.

最後，對於這一部分，我只想指出，雖然我們的新 Transco 費率於 3 月 1 日生效，但您實際上並沒有看到太大的影響，因為我們在最終結算之前繼續保持保守的儲備。

Next, our Northeast G&P business improved $10 million or 2%, primarily on higher revenues, including the effect of higher gathering and processing rates. This segment was unfavorably impacted by the Aux Sable divestiture that we made last August. Overall, volumes were basically pretty flat for the first quarter of '24. However, they are up about 6% sequentially over the fourth quarter of '24. And we continued to see overall additional growth in April.

其次，我們的東北 G&P 業務成長了 1000 萬美元，即 2%，這主要得益於收入的增加，包括收集和處理率提高的影響。去年 8 月，我們剝離了 Aux Sable 業務，這對該部門產生了不利影響。整體而言，24 年第一季的銷售量基本持平。不過，與 24 年第四季相比，其環比成長了約 6%。四月我們繼續看到整體額外成長。

In the West, we were $26 million or 8% higher, driven by strong margins, Overland Pass Pipeline volumes, and a partial quarter from the Rimrock acquisition that closed at the end of January. We did have a small gain on an asset sale that was under our materiality threshold for adjustment of around $10 million. The West was negatively impacted by a step down in our minimum volume commitments at Eagle Ford.

在西部，我們的營收成長了 2,600 萬美元，即 8%，這得益於強勁的利潤率、Overland Pass Pipeline 的產量，以及 1 月底完成的 Rimrock 收購的部分季度收入。我們確實從資產出售中獲得了小額收益，該收益低於我們調整的重要性門檻，約為 1000 萬美元。由於我們在鷹福特 (Eagle Ford) 的最低產量承諾減少，西部地區受到了負面影響。

On the volume front, similar to the Northeast, overall volumes were basically pretty flat with the first quarter of '24, but up about 5% sequentially over fourth-quarter '24. And we've continued to see overall additional growth in April.

從銷售量來看，與東北地區類似，整體銷售量與 2024 年第一季基本持平，但比 2024 年第四季環比成長約 5%。四月我們繼續看到整體額外成長。

Our Sequent marketing business had another strong start to the year with $155 million of adjusted EBITDA, which is the third straight year where our first-quarter Marketing results exceeded $150 million. However, the '25 results were still down about $34 million overall versus 2024. And this segment did see a small [$1.93 million] contribution from the Cogentrix investment that Alan discussed earlier.

我們的 Sequent 行銷業務今年開局強勁，調整後 EBITDA 達到 1.55 億美元，這是我們第一季行銷業績連續第三年超過 1.5 億美元。然而，與 2024 年相比，2025 年的業績總體仍下降了約 3,400 萬美元。正如艾倫先前所討論的，這部分確實從 Cogentrix 投資中獲得了少量貢獻 [193 萬美元]。

And then finally, our Upstream business included in our other segment was up about $37 million. And roughly half of that was related to our consolidation of the Wamsutter Upstream position effective in November of last year. Also, we did see some overall improvement in gas prices year over year.

最後，我們其他部門的上游業務成長了約 3,700 萬美元。其中約一半與我們去年 11 月生效的 Wamsutter 上游地位的整合有關。此外，我們確實看到汽油價格年比整體有所改善。

So that gets you to the $1.989 billion of EBITDA for first-quarter '25 or 3% growth, which, as I mentioned a moment ago, should be the lowest growth rate we see this year as we look forward to accelerating growth through the remainder of this year. Now let's move to the next slide and discuss what we're seeing in our outlook for the remainder of '25.

這樣，2025 年第一季的 EBITDA 就達到了 19.89 億美元，成長率為 3%，正如我剛才提到的，這應該是我們今年看到的最低成長率，我們期待在今年剩餘時間內加速成長。現在讓我們進入下一張投影片，討論一下我們對 25 年剩餘時間的展望。

As Alan mentioned, we are revising our 2025 adjusted EBITDA guidance upward from a previous midpoint of $7.65 billion to now $7.7 billion. And we're moving the top of the range to $7.9 billion. At $7.7 billion, we will see 9% growth in adjusted EBITDA over '24 and a 9% CAGR from 2020. Our current guidance reflects a solid start to '25, the addition of the Cogentrix investment, and our overall confidence in the growth of our underlying business plus line of sight to an extraordinary number of projects coming online in the near future.

正如艾倫所提到的，我們正在將 2025 年調整後的 EBITDA 指引從先前的中點 76.5 億美元上調至現在的 77 億美元。我們將把最高限額提高到 79 億美元。調整後的 EBITDA 為 77 億美元，預計 24 年將成長 9%，自 2020 年起複合年增長率將達到 9%。我們目前的指導反映了 25 年的良好開端、Cogentrix 投資的增加、我們對基礎業務成長的整體信心以及對不久的將來上線的大量項目的預期。

Speaking specifically to this segment, in our Transmission and Gulf segment, we look forward to settling our Transco rate case and seeing the contributions from the two transmission projects we recently placed in service as well as completing six additional transmission projects by the end of this year. And we remain optimistic about continued upside from the recontracting of our storage business.

具體到這一領域，在我們的輸電和海灣領域，我們期待解決我們的 Transco 費率案例，並看到我們最近投入使用的兩個輸電項目的貢獻，以及在今年年底前完成另外六個輸電項目。我們對於儲存業務重新簽約後繼續上漲的前景仍然持樂觀態度。

Additionally, in the deepwater, we've now completed the Whale and Ballymore projects and still have the Shenandoah and Salamanca projects to go for 2025. In the deepwater, we are only in the early stages of a volume ramp that will accelerate through the remainder of the year.

此外，在深水領域，我們現已完成 Whale 和 Ballymore 項目，並且還有 Shenandoah 和 Salamanca 項目將於 2025 年完成。在深水區，我們僅處於產量成長的早期階段，產量成長將在今年剩餘時間內加速。

In our gathering and processing businesses, we continue to see overall strengthening in our volumes, reflecting our exposure to crucial natural gas-focused basins and our Haynesville expansions, including our large-scale Louisiana Energy Gateway project, which is proceeding very well with expected completion in 3Q '25.

在我們的收集和加工業務中，我們的業務量繼續整體增強，這反映了我們對關鍵天然氣盆地的關注以及我們在海恩斯維爾的擴張，包括我們的大型路易斯安那能源門戶項目，該項目進展順利，預計將於2025年第三季度完工。

In our more commodity-exposed Upstream and Marketing businesses, we've generally lowered our expectations for pricing tailwinds. However, we are still well positioned to deliver on our plan for our Upstream business, as the combination of our first-quarter performance and forward hedge book have basically already locked in about 65% of the expected 2025 revenues.

在我們更專注於大宗商品的上游和行銷業務中，我們普遍降低了對價格順風的預期。然而，我們仍然有能力實現上游業務計劃，因為我們第一季的業績和遠期對沖帳簿基本上已經鎖定了 2025 年預期收入的 65% 左右。

And the majority of the Marketing businesses plan has been realized through the first quarter. As we've demonstrated over the last 10-plus years, our business is very resilient to commodity price swings and especially insulated from the risk of crude oil downturns associated with economic downturns.

並且，第一季行銷業務計劃大部分已經實現。正如我們在過去十多年中所證明的那樣，我們的業務對大宗商品價格波動具有很強的抵禦能力，尤其能抵禦與經濟衰退相關的原油價格下跌的風險。

Williams continues to be primarily focused on two things: demand for natural gas pipeline capacity and the growth in natural gas volumetric demand. We continue to have confidence in the outlook for both of these regardless of near-term macroeconomic conditions and look forward to delivering at least 9% growth this year.

威廉斯繼續主要關注兩件事：天然氣管道容量的需求和天然氣體積需求的成長。無論近期宏觀經濟狀況如何，我們仍然對這兩個行業的前景充滿信心，並期待今年至少有 9% 的成長。

And with that, I'll turn it back over to Alan.

說完這些，我會把話題還給艾倫。

Okay, great. Thanks, John. And just a few closing remarks before we turn it over to your questions. I'll start by saying it should be very apparent that our business is firing on all cylinders. And we have a track record of generating predictable, growing earnings in a variety of economic cycles, which underscores the value of Williams as a weather-proof, long-term investment with a high-growth dividend.

好的，太好了。謝謝，約翰。在我們開始回答你們的問題之前，我們再說幾句結束語。首先我想說的是，我們的業務顯然正在全速發展。我們在各種經濟週期中都有創造可預測、不斷增長的收益的記錄，這凸顯了威廉斯作為一項具有高成長股息的、不受天氣影響的長期投資的價值。

With an ever-expanding backlog of fully contracted projects extending beyond 2030 and our proven ability to capture new business in emerging markets, Williams is positioned better than any other company to benefit from the coming wave of natural gas demand from the power generation market, industrial reshoring, and LNG exports while continuing to deliver on traditional market needs.

威廉斯擁有不斷擴大的、將持續到 2030 年以後的全額簽約項目積壓訂單，並且具備在新興市場開拓新業務的成熟能力，這使得威廉斯比其他任何公司都更有能力從即將到來的發電市場、工業回流和液化天然氣出口的天然氣需求浪潮中獲益，同時繼續滿足傳統的市場需求。

Williams is excelling on all fronts, thanks to a strong and energized organization that is very passionate and dedicated to our strategy and to doing the right thing. So I feel that the time is right for the transition we announced yesterday, that effective July 1, Chad Zamarin will succeed me as President and CEO. And I will serve as Executive Chairman of the Board.

威廉斯在各方面都表現出色，這要歸功於一個強大而充滿活力的組織，該組織對我們的策略和做正確的事情充滿熱情並全心投入。因此，我認為現在是進行昨天宣布的過渡的正確時機，即從 7 月 1 日起，查德·紮馬林 (Chad Zamarin) 將接替我擔任總裁兼首席執行官。我將擔任董事會執行主席。

And Steve Bergstrom, who has been a great leader of our Board and a great thought partner to me personally, will become our Lead Independent Director. Since joining Williams, Chad and I have worked together closely.

史蒂夫·伯格斯特羅姆 (Steve Bergstrom) 是我們董事會的傑出領導者，也是我個人的偉大思想夥伴，他將成為我們的首席獨立董事。自從加入威廉斯以來，查德和我一直密切合作。

And he has successfully built on our strong natural gas-focused strategy while advocating for Williams and the role of natural gas in our clean energy future. He is the right next leader for Williams at this point in our company's history. And I know he will take the company forward with pride and commitment to Williams values.

他成功地建立了我們強大的以天然氣為重點的策略，同時倡導威廉斯和天然氣在我們清潔能源未來中的作用。在我們公司歷史上的這個階段，他是威廉斯最合適的下一任領導者。我知道他將滿懷自豪並恪守威廉斯的價值觀，帶領公司不斷前進。

And with that, I'll turn the call over to Chad for a few brief remarks before we get to Q&A. Chad?

在進入問答環節之前，我將把電話交給查德，請他發表一些簡短的評論。查德?

Thanks, Alan. I am truly humbled and honored to be asked to lead Williams in the months and years ahead. The rich history of Williams is truly the story of a great American company, and we have many amazing chapters left to write.

謝謝，艾倫。我很榮幸能夠在未來幾個月甚至幾年內領導威廉斯公司。威廉斯豐富的歷史確實是一個偉大的美國公司的故事，我們還有許多精彩的篇章有待書寫。

Alan, you've been a great mentor, leader, and thought partner for me. And I'm grateful for the trust that you and our Board of Directors have placed in me and in our leadership team to carry Williams' vision forward. Rest assured that there are no major sea changes here and no change in how the compass is set for Williams.

艾倫，你一直是我優秀的導師、領導者和思想夥伴。我非常感謝您和董事會對我以及我們的領導團隊的信任，相信我們能夠將威廉斯的願景發揚光大。請放心，這裡不會發生重大變化，威廉斯的方向也不會改變。

Alan and I, together with the entire leadership team, have for years worked closely with our Board to craft and continually tune our natural gas-focused strategy. And as you've heard today, our strategy continues to deliver with abundant opportunities on the horizon. I look forward to continuing to work with the Board and with Alan in his role as Executive Chairman to continue to build on our success.

多年來，艾倫和我以及整個領導團隊一直與董事會密切合作，制定並不斷調整以天然氣為重點的策略。正如大家今天所聽到的，我們的策略將繼續發揮作用，並帶來大量機會。我期待繼續與董事會以及擔任執行主席的艾倫合作，繼續鞏固我們的成功。

Alan, on behalf of every shareholder and on behalf of every current and former employee that has proudly worn the Williams badge, I want to say thank you. It has been one of the greatest privileges of my career to work with you and to witness your unwavering dedication to this great company.

艾倫，我謹代表每一位股東以及每一位自豪地佩戴威廉斯徽章的現任和前任員工向您表示感謝。能夠與您共事並見證您對這家偉大公司的堅定奉獻是我職業生涯中最大的榮幸之一。

I know how much you love Williams, and I know how much that you and [Shelley] have sacrificed for the company, and know that we will strive every day to match your passion for Williams. And we will always work to make you proud. I hope that you know how much you mean to us, and I'm glad that you will still be close by in your role as Executive Chair.

我知道您有多愛威廉斯，我也知道您和雪萊為公司做出了多大的犧牲，並且知道我們每天都會努力去匹配您對威廉斯的熱情。我們將始終努力讓您感到驕傲。我希望你知道你對我們有多重要，我很高興你仍然會以執行主席的身份在我們身邊。

And now we will open up the call for questions.

現在我們開始提問。

(Operator Instructions) Praneeth Satish, Wells Fargo.

（操作員指示） Praneeth Satish，富國銀行。

Good morning. First, let me offer my congratulations to both Alan and Chad. And Chad, you have some big shoes to fill.

早安.首先，我要向艾倫和查德表示祝賀。查德，你要承擔的責任很大。

Alan, I think you mentioned during your prepared remarks that you've -- that Williams has ordered equipment for two more behind-the-meter power projects, if I heard you correctly. Can you help us just understand if the size and returns for these potential projects are going to be similar to what we saw with Socrates?

艾倫，如果我沒聽錯的話，我想你在準備好的發言中提到過，威廉斯已經訂購了另外兩個電錶後電力項目的設備。您能否幫助我們了解這些潛在項目的規模和回報是否與我們在蘇格拉底計畫中看到的類似？

Or do you think that the returns could be even better in the extent -- to the extent you're able to leverage your own existing infrastructure? And separately, given that you've already ordered the equipment, should we expect FID in the coming months?

或者您認為，在您能夠利用現有基礎設施的範圍內，回報可能會更好？另外，鑑於您已經訂購了設備，我們是否應該在未來幾個月內期待最終決定 (FID)？

Yeah. Praneeth, I'm going to have Chad take that one. He's been right in the middle of that. So Chad can take that.

是的。Praneeth，我要讓 Chad 接手這個任務。他正處於其中。所以乍得可以接受這一點。

Sure, yeah. We do expect these projects to reach full commercialization throughout the remainder of the year. And we also expect these projects to be contracted very similarly to Socrates and have likewise really attractive returns.

當然，是的。我們確實預計這些項目將在今年剩餘時間內實現全面商業化。我們也預期這些項目的合約形式將與蘇格拉底非常相似，並且同樣具有非常誘人的回報。

I think we'll hold to see if they're materially different than the projects we have. But I think generally, scope and scale will be similar, maybe a bit smaller as we get more efficient in how we design these solutions but for the most part, will look similar to Socrates.

我認為我們會等待，看看它們是否與我們現有的項目有實質性的不同。但我認為總體而言，範圍和規模會相似，也許會小一些，因為我們在設計這些解決方案時會變得更加高效，但在大多數情況下，看起來會與蘇格拉底相似。

Got it. And then maybe if you can elaborate on the strategic rationale for the Cogentrix investment. Beyond, I guess, market intelligence, do you anticipate this evolving into a platform for additional power generation investments? What's your appetite for increasing your ownership stake beyond the 10% or just making more investments into IPPs?

知道了。然後，您能否詳細說明一下 Cogentrix 投資的策略理由？除了市場情報之外，您是否預計這將發展成為一個額外發電投資的平台？您是否有興趣將持股比例增加至 10% 以上，或只是對 IPP 進行更多投資？

Yeah, Praneeth, I'll take that one. I think people should realize that there is a lot of change of foot, particularly in the Northeast, on the power market and the way that business is contracted. It's becoming very evident that the short-term power auction markets don't provide for those merchant power plants taking out long-term firm capacity. And that's going to have to happen to maintain a reliable grid in those markets.

是的，Praneeth，我會接受這個。我認為人們應該意識到，電力市場和業務承包方式發生了很大變化，尤其是在東北地區。越來越明顯的是，短期電力拍賣市場無法為那些需要長期固定產能的商業發電廠提供服務。為了在這些市場中維持可靠的電網，必須做到這一點。

So we are really watching that with a lot of close interest. And this is a great way for us to really be in a position to help on the gas supply side of that. So you really shouldn't see it as an investment into the merchant power generation space as a strategy as much as you should see it. We recognize there's a lot of change that's going to happen in terms of the gas supply into that business, particularly in the Northeast. And we want to be front and center on what that's going to look like.

因此我們確實非常密切地關注著這一點。這對我們來說是一種真正能夠為天然氣供應提供幫助的好方法。因此，您實際上不應該將其視為對商業發電領域的投資，而應該將其視為一種策略。我們認識到，該行業的天然氣供應方面將發生很大變化，特別是在東北地區。我們希望成為這一進程的中心人物。

And then finally, I would just say really excited to be working with the Quantum Energy Group, great partner in a lot of areas. And we really like working with them. And so this is a great opportunity for us to expand that relationship.

最後，我只想說，我非常高興能與量子能源集團合作，他們在許多領域都是非常優秀的合作夥伴。我們真的很喜歡和他們一起工作。因此，這對我們擴大這種關係來說是一個絕佳的機會。

So it's not quite what people might think it is in terms of us thinking about going into the merchant power business. And I appreciate that, that coupled along with going into the -- serving the data centers, people might get that impression. But that's not at all what our strategy is.

因此，就我們考慮進軍商用電力業務而言，情況並不像人們想像的那樣。我很欣賞這一點，再加上進入資料中心服務，人們可能會有這樣的印象。但這根本不是我們的策略。

Understood. Thank you.

明白了。謝謝。

Jeremy Tonet, JPMorgan.

摩根大通的傑里米·托內特 (Jeremy Tonet)。

Hi, good morning.

嗨，早安。

Hey, good morning, Jeremy.

嘿，早上好，傑里米。

And, yeah, congratulations, both Alan and Chad. Congrats on that. And maybe just moving into behind the meter as well with the question here. Just wondering, I guess, Williams has provided a solution that I think a number of others in the market have looked to pursue, but have not been able to deliver -- energy companies or IPPs or other.

是的，祝賀艾倫和查德。恭喜你。也許，對於這裡的問題，我們也只需要轉到儀表後面。我只是想知道，威廉斯提供了一個解決方案，我認為市場上許多其他公司也曾試圖實現，但未能實現——能源公司、獨立發電廠或其他公司。

I guess, what has enabled Williams to do this versus others? What do you see as your competitive advantage here? How big is this opportunity set for Williams as you see it?

我想問，是什麼讓威廉斯能夠做到這一點，而其他人卻做不到呢？您認為您的競爭優勢是什麼？您認為這個機會對威廉斯來說有多大？

Yeah, thanks, Jeremy. This is Chad. I mean, first thing I'd say is a huge shout out to the Williams team. We are very focused on collaborating across the organization in driving growth within our core businesses. And frankly, I credit a lot of our success on the Socrates project and the Power Innovation to the team and to that collaboration.

是的，謝謝，傑瑞米。這是乍得。我的意思是，我首先要向威廉斯車隊致以最崇高的敬意。我們非常注重整個組織的合作，以推動核心業務的成長。坦白說，我認為蘇格拉底專案和 Power Innovation 的成功很大程度上要歸功於團隊和合作。

And then beyond that, it's just making sure we can put together solutions for customers and bring all of the different capabilities of the organization. We can provide gas supply solutions. We understand pipeline capacity, our own and even third-party pipelines through our Sequent market intelligence.

除此之外，我們還要確保能夠為客戶提供解決方案，並發揮組織的所有不同能力。我們可以提供天然氣供應解決方案。我們透過 Sequent 市場情報了解管道容量、我們自己的管道甚至第三方的管道。

We obviously build a lot of pipeline and turbine facilities. And so bringing all the different pieces together into a solution that is ready-made for a customer, I think, has been truly a differentiator. And again, credit to the teams for being able to pull all that together.

我們顯然建造了很多管道和渦輪機設施。因此，我認為，將所有不同的部分整合到為客戶準備的解決方案中，才是真正的差異化因素。再次感謝團隊能夠將所有這一切整合在一起。

And then I would just mention that -- I think John was mentioning earlier -- I mean, we like this opportunity. We think it will layer in nicely over time. It's not -- I know there's a lot coming at us really fast. The team is working on making sure that this complements our investment strategy. And we've got a nice layering in of projects over time.

然後我只想提一下——我想約翰之前提到過——我的意思是，我們喜歡這個機會。我們認為隨著時間的推移它會逐漸完善。事實並非如此——我知道有很多事情正在迅速向我們襲來。團隊正在努力確保這與我們的投資策略相輔相成。隨著時間的推移，我們的專案已逐漸完善。

And so I would think of these next two projects that we're working to commercialize, in addition to other projects, as layering in over the next few years and through the end of the decade.

因此，我認為我們正在努力實現商業化的這兩個項目以及其他項目將在未來幾年乃至整個十年內陸續完成。

Yeah. And I would just add, Jeremy, one of the things that I think we are really good at as a company is developing high-trust relationships. And that reputation helps us, obviously, when we go into situations like this. But importantly, we also work to have that on the supplier side as well.

是的。傑里米，我想補充一點，我認為我們公司真正擅長的事情之一就是發展高度信任的關係。顯然，當我們遇到這種情況時，這種聲譽會對我們有所幫助。但重要的是，我們也致力於在供應商方面實現這一點。

And so us having a long-term relationship with solar in a way that provides us a leg up on being able to get the equipment there, is very valuable. So those relationships pay off in moments like this instead of just beating down vendors for the very last nickel all the time, but really trying to work with them to improve their product and service in a high-trust relationship really pays off dividends in times like these. And so I think you see that coming through as well.

因此，我們與太陽能建立長期的合作關係，使我們能夠將設備運送到那裡，這是非常有價值的。因此，在這樣的時刻，這些關係是有回報的，而不是總是為了最後一點錢而壓榨供應商，而是真正嘗試與他們合作，在高度信任的關係中改進他們的產品和服務，在這樣的時刻，真正會有回報。所以我想你也看到了這一點。

Got it. That's helpful there. Thanks. And just kind of shifting towards the gas markets, maybe a bit more color versus -- in addition to what you said before. In thinking about your conversations with producer customers here, there's a lot of focus on oil-directed drilling, but there's impacts on the gas market as well.

知道了。這很有幫助。謝謝。除了您之前所說的之外，我們還會轉向天然氣市場，可能會有更多的色彩。在思考您與這裡的生產商客戶的對話時，您主要關注的是石油定向鑽井，但它也會對天然氣市場產生影響。

I'm just wondering if you could comment a bit more how you see the gas market unfolding here given these dynamics? And what it means for your systems if the call on gas continues and there's less associated gas or otherwise, just how you see this playing out? And what are the impacts for Williams?

我只是想知道，鑑於這些動態，您是否可以再多評論一下您如何看待這裡的天然氣市場的發展？如果對天然氣的需求持續增加，而伴生氣卻減少，這對您的系統意味著什麼？您認為這將如何發展？這對威廉斯有何影響？

Yeah. We certainly are seeing that call on gas right now, and a lot of response in the dry gas basins, for sure. And obviously, if oil continues to soften, that we'll continue to see rigs rotate into the gas areas, I think. So it's going to be a little choppy because we're going to see big increases on the demand side. And we're going to see supply responses that are not always directly in line with the market demand.

是的。我們現在確實看到了對天然氣的需求，而且乾氣盆地也做出了很大的反應。顯然，如果油價繼續走軟，我認為我們將繼續看到鑽井平台轉向天然氣區域。因此，情況將會有些波動，因為我們將看到需求方面的大幅成長。我們將會看到供應反應並不總是與市場需求直接一致。

So I think it's going to be kind of choppy on the way up, if you will, on the demand side. But we certainly are seeing responses on our system, saw that growth during the first quarter, and certainly seeing that growth on our systems here in April in the second quarter. So we are extremely well positioned for that call, and we're certainly seeing it come through our systems right now.

因此，我認為從需求面來看，上漲的動能會有些不穩定。但我們確實看到了系統上的回應，看到了第一季的成長，當然也看到了第二季 4 月我們系統上的成長。因此，我們已做好充分準備來接聽該電話，而且我們現在也確實看到它透過我們的系統傳來。

So that's been a strategic decision for a long time to really focus on the gas-directed basins because we think that they'll have to be called on in a growing gas demand. And I would just say that's come a little stronger than we even expected at this point. So very well positioned on that take, and we certainly are seeing a big call on the gas supply in those basins.

因此，長期以來，我們一直做出戰略決策，真正關注天然氣導向盆地，因為我們認為，在不斷增長的天然氣需求下，我們必須依靠它們。我只想說，這比我們目前預期的還要強勁一些。因此，我們在這方面處於非常有利的位置，而且我們確實看到這些盆地的天然氣供應需求龐大。

Got it. Thank you for that.

知道了。謝謝你。

Spiro Dounis, Citi.

花旗銀行的 Spiro Dounis。

Thanks, operator. Morning, team. And congrats, Alan, Chad, and Larry. Maybe just to start with the project backlog as it relates to capital spending. It sounds like a lot of healthy backlog materializing here, and we've already sort of seen that impact on 2025.

謝謝，接線生。早上好，團隊。恭喜艾倫、查德和拉里。也許只是從與資本支出相關的項目積壓開始。聽起來這裡有很多健康的積壓工作正在實現，而且我們已經看到了它對 2025 年的影響。

But just given constantly sort of percolating list of items coming in, curious how you're thinking about elevated CapEx going forward. Is this going to be a feature over the next few years, given all these projects starting to manifest themselves? And are there any self-imposed limits in any given year on how much you want to spend?

但是，鑑於不斷湧入的項目清單，我很好奇您如何看待未來資本支出的增加。鑑於所有這些項目都開始顯現，這會成為未來幾年的一個特徵嗎？每年，您是否對自己的支出金額有限制？

Yeah. Thanks for the questions, Spiro. I mean, I think as we have discussed in the past in our long-range forecasting exercise we do every year, we've just continuously seen this 2025, 2026 timeframe as being a period of time where the company was going to have really more and more balance sheet capacity, again, reminding folks that our targeted leverage range is 3.5 to 4 times. And even with this first Socrates project, our guidance this year is for 3.65 times. So still very comfortably within that range.

是的。謝謝你的提問，Spiro。我的意思是，我認為，正如我們過去在每年進行的長期預測練習中所討論的那樣，我們一直認為 2025 年、2026 年這個時間段是公司資產負債表容量真正越來越大的時期，再次提醒大家，我們的目標槓桿範圍是 3.5 到 4 倍。即使有這個第一個蘇格拉底項目，我們今年的指導價格也是 3.65 倍。因此仍然非常舒適地處於該範圍內。

And as we've talked about before, as we look forward into the future, we saw sort of an ever-increasing capacity coming on the balance sheet even with, I think, what are ultimately probably going to be pretty conservative cash tax assumptions going forward. We still saw that sort of ever-increasing level of balance sheet capacity.

正如我們之前所討論的，當我們展望未來時，我們看到資產負債表上的容量不斷增加，即使我認為最終可能會有相當保守的現金稅假設。我們仍然看到資產負債表容量水準不斷提高。

And so going back over a year ago or so, a lot of the focus has been, what's going to come along to make a really good use of that balance sheet capacity? And so what we've seen, I think, over the last 12 months is our commercial teams are very busy and maybe as busy as I've ever seen them. And then, of course, we've had the Power Innovation stuff come along as well.

因此，回顧一年多前，人們關注的焦點是如何才能真正充分利用資產負債表容量？所以我認為，在過去的 12 個月裡，我們看到我們的商業團隊非常忙碌，也許是我見過的最忙碌的。當然，我們也推出了 Power Innovation 產品。

And so really, it's very exciting. We're seeing a timeframe where we have enormous opportunities in the business coming along at a time when we have really strong balance sheet capacity. And I think what's really exciting is the stuff that's coming in has a very strong return profile, great credit, long-term terms. And so we really like the capital that's coming at us organically.

這確實非常令人興奮。我們看到，當我們擁有真正強大的資產負債表能力時，我們的業務中就會出現巨大的機會。我認為真正令人興奮的是，即將推出的產品具有非常強勁的回報、良好的信譽和長期條款。因此，我們真的很喜歡自然而然地流入我們的資本。

And I think we have more than enough capacity to fund what's in front of us, and we've stress-tested that. And of course, we'll be very disciplined on the returns and the credits, and looking for the long-term contracts. But we think we've got plenty of capacity and very excited about the projects we're seeing coming from our commercial teams.

我認為我們有足夠的能力來資助我們面臨的問題，並且我們已經對此進行了壓力測試。當然，我們會非常嚴格地對待回報和信貸，並尋求長期合約。但我們認為我們有足夠的能力，並且對我們的商業團隊所看到的項目感到非常興奮。

Yeah, I would just add to that, that it's very different. The short cycle that we're seeing for these -- for the Power Innovation projects are such a quick return on the capital. 5 times EBITDA multiple on a project that takes 18 months to have online is very different than one that takes 36 months to have online. So really strong returns from these projects that will continue to expand the balance sheet and our capacity, as John said.

是的，我只想補充一點，這是非常不同的。我們看到電力創新專案的周期很短，資本回報非常快。一個需要 18 個月才能上線的項目的 EBITDA 倍數為 5 倍，與一個需要 36 個月才能上線的項目有很大不同。正如約翰所說，這些項目確實帶來了豐厚的回報，將繼續擴大資產負債表和我們的產能。

So I would say a great problem to have. But so far, we feel like we have plenty of capacity of taking on what's out there. I'm very glad that we've held our return threshold so high against our projects because it is giving us that kind of capacity that we wouldn't otherwise have if we've been investing at lower-return projects.

所以我想說這是一個很大的問題。但到目前為止，我們覺得我們有足夠的能力來應付目前的情況。我很高興我們為專案設定瞭如此高的回報門檻，因為這給了我們一種能力，如果我們一直投資於回報率較低的項目，我們就不會擁有這種能力。

Got it. Helpful. Thanks, John and Alan. Second question, maybe just to quickly go back to the leadership change. You both addressed this to some degree in your remarks, but maybe just to put a finer point on it.

知道了。很有幫助。謝謝，約翰和艾倫。第二個問題，也許只是想快速回顧一下領導階層變動的問題。你們在評論中都在某種程度上談到了這一點，但也許只是為了更詳細地闡述一下。

Alan, long successful tenor at Williams, curious why now is the right time. And, Chad, it sounds like not a lot will change going forward, but just curious what you think your mandate is going forward.

艾倫是威廉斯樂團長期成功的男高音，他很好奇為什麼現在是正確的時機。查德，聽起來未來不會有太大變化，但我好奇您認為您的未來任務是什麼。

Yeah, Spiro, thanks for the question. Well, I would just say, it's such a great time. We have -- I think our culture as a company is in great shape. The business is really running well right now. Very excited about the talent in both Chad and the team that's coming up in the organization.

是的，斯皮羅，謝謝你的提問。好吧，我只想說，這真是一段美好的時光。我認為我們公司的文化非常好。目前業務確實運作良好。我對查德和即將加入該組織的團隊的才華感到非常興奮。

So I think the mix is just right. And I think it's a great time to bring Chad's energy and passion to bear across all these opportunities. So this is not necessarily anything other than just a very objective viewpoint from a shareholder perspective about what I think is the right time for making the change.

所以我認為這種組合恰到好處。我認為現在是將查德的精力和熱情帶到所有這些機會的好時機。因此，這只是從股東角度提出的關於我認為進行變革的正確時機的一個非常客觀的觀點。

And so I couldn't be more excited about this as a personal shareholder myself. And so I do think it's the right time. And we just got a great future and a lot of passion and energy in Chad. And I think he's going to do a fantastic job of taking the organization to the next level.

因此，身為個人股東，我對此感到非常興奮。所以我確實認為現在是正確的時機。我們在乍得擁有美好的未來，並且充滿熱情和活力。我認為他將出色地帶領組織邁向新的高度。

Yeah. And, Alan, as far as mandates go, I still remember eight years ago when I joined the company, one of the first things Alan asked me to do is to facilitate our strategy process. And we've built a process where we work very collaboratively as a team across the organization and with our Board of Directors.

是的。艾倫，就任務而言，我還記得八年前我加入公司時，艾倫要求我做的第一件事就是促進我們的策略進程。我們已經建立了一個流程，讓我們作為一個團隊在整個組織內以及與我們的董事會進行高度協作。

And when you ask about a mandate, I would expect more of the same. This has been a strategy that we've been very committed to. We will continue to stay committed to stable, predictable growth, protecting the balance sheet. We do explore adjacent opportunities, but with the clear-eyed focus on driving growth and business back to our core business.

當你問到授權時，我期望得到更多相同的結果。這是我們一直致力於的策略。我們將繼續致力於穩定、可預測的成長，保護資產負債表。我們確實在探索鄰近的機會，但重點是推動成長和業務回歸我們的核心業務。

Alan mentioned that Cogentrix is a great example. We're not taking a large turn into a different strategic area. We're going to take a very small position that will allow us to be better positioned to drive business back to our core business. Because that's a strong fundamental tailwind that we see in the natural gas value chain.

艾倫提到 Cogentrix 就是一個很好的例子。我們不會大幅轉向不同的策略領域。我們將採取非常小的立場，這將使我們能夠更好地推動業務回歸核心業務。因為這是我們在天然氣價值鏈中看到的強烈基本順風。

So I would expect that you would continue to see more of the same, that this team has been very ingrained in our strategy process. And the great news is Alan isn't going far, going to be our Executive Chair, and we'll continue to work through that same strategy process that we have been now for great years.

因此我希望你們能繼續看到更多相同的情況，即這個團隊已經深深根植於我們的戰略過程中。好消息是艾倫不會走遠，他將繼續擔任我們的執行主席，我們將繼續按照多年來一直遵循的相同策略流程開展工作。

Great. I'll leave it there. Alan, don't be a stranger.

偉大的。我就把它留在那裡。艾倫，別再當陌生人了。

Okay. Thanks, Spiro.

好的。謝謝，斯皮羅。

Theresa Chen, Barclays.

巴克萊銀行的 Theresa Chen。

Morning. I'd like to also offer my congratulations to Alan for your announcement. And congratulations as well to Chad and Larry in your new roles.

早晨。我還要向艾倫表示祝賀，祝賀你的宣布。同時也祝賀查德和拉里擔任新職務。

First, following the FID of Transco's Power Express, I'd like to know, what is the capacity at this point across Transco for additional efficient, high-returning projects using existing right of ways to mitigate potential permitting delays? How much more capacity is there to bring on projects like Power Express? And what are the next areas of growth and development on Transco?

首先，在 Transco 的 Power Express 做出最終投資決定之後，我想知道，目前 Transco 的容量如何，可以使用現有的通行權來開展更多高效、高回報的項目，以減輕潛在的許可延誤？還有多少產能可以用於 Power Express 等項目？Transco 的下一個成長和發展領域是什麼？

Do you want to take that?

你想拿走那個嗎？

Yeah, I'll take that. Yeah, great question. Obviously, we're excited to be able to deliver another great project like Power Express, which is really building along our footprint across Transco, with easy brownfield expansions that provide us opportunity to kind of streamline through the permitting process.

是的，我會接受的。是的，很好的問題。顯然，我們很高興能夠提供另一個像 Power Express 這樣的偉大項目，該項目真正沿著我們在 Transco 的足跡進行建設，透過輕鬆的棕地擴建，為我們提供了簡化許可流程的機會。

I think as the dynamics and the demand continue to grow across the footprint on Transco, we're finding new opportunities left and right. We're seeing the growth right now in Virginia that's driving Power Express. We're seeing continued growth throughout the Southeast markets, as well as along the Gulf as we see rapid growth in the LNG space.

我認為，隨著 Transco 業務範圍的動態和需求不斷增長，我們到處都在尋找新的機會。我們現在看到維吉尼亞州的成長正在推動 Power Express 的發展。我們看到整個東南市場以及墨西哥灣沿岸地區持續成長，同時液化天然氣領域也實現了快速成長。

And so those dynamics change quite a bit, especially as we see new supply coming into different parts of the system. And so I think we'll continue to find these opportunities to meet our customers' needs. And I think it's going to be dependent upon where the demand materializes and the supply that we start targeting to bring into the system.

因此這些動態發生了很大變化，特別是當我們看到新的供應進入系統的不同部分時。因此我認為我們會繼續尋找這些機會來滿足客戶的需求。我認為這將取決於需求的實現地點以及我們開始瞄準引入系統的供應。

And on the deepwater side of things, with contribution visibly stepping up in the second half, what are you assuming at this point for annual contribution for this group of projects within guidance relative to the $300 million exit?

從深水方面來看，隨著下半年貢獻大幅增加，相對於 3 億美元的退出，您目前對這組計畫的年度貢獻有何假設？

John, I'm not sure we disclose it.

約翰，我不確定我們是否應該披露它。

Yeah. I don't think we really have a deepwater guidance number. But I would say there's been some timing shifts on some of these projects over the last few years since we have first talked about the overall contribution of these projects in that $300 million number. But ultimately, by the time you get to 2026, you should be more at a run rate level relative to this group of projects.

是的。我認為我們實際上並沒有一個深水指導數字。但我想說，自從我們第一次談論這些項目在 3 億美元的整體貢獻以來，在過去幾年裡，其中一些項目的時間發生了一些變化。但最終，到 2026 年時，您應該會達到相對於這組專案的運行率水準。

So just to be clear on that, the $300 million as an addition to these projects is -- looks like we'll probably hit that stride towards the end of this year at a run rate level. And so that remains. I would say that some of these are looking even better. I know Chevron is really excited about Ballymore and how those wells are doing right now.

因此，為了明確這一點，作為這些項目的附加資金 3 億美元——看起來我們可能會在今年年底以運行率水平實現這一目標。所以就這樣保留了。我想說其中一些看起來甚至更好。我知道雪佛龍對 Ballymore 以及這些油井目前的狀況感到非常興奮。

And so I'm really encouraged to see that. Whale is doing really well, even though it had a very slow start at the beginning of the year. But right now, it is really getting on stride. So we may be on the higher end of that by the end of the year. But obviously, there's a few things left to happen on Salamanca and Shenandoah that are hard to predict at this point.

我很高興看到這一點。儘管年初時 Whale 的起步非常緩慢，但目前表現仍然很好。但目前，它確實正在大步前進。因此，到今年年底，我們的收入可能會達到更高的水平。但顯然，薩拉曼卡和謝南多厄島上還有一些事情要發生，目前還很難預測。

But so far, looking really good and very encouraged to hear Chevron's comments on what their cost structure is looking like around developing more and more reserves around the infrastructure -- existing infrastructure because, obviously, that will just continue to feed our downstream pipeline.

但到目前為止，情況看起來真的很好，並且非常鼓舞地聽到雪佛龍關於他們在基礎設施周圍開發越來越多儲備的成本結構的評論 - 現有的基礎設施，因為顯然，這將繼續為我們的下游管道提供動力。

So good -- great times in the deepwater, both in the current. But I think looking forward, the producers have really learned to take the cost down out there, and that's going to benefit us directly out there.

非常好——在深水中度過了美好的時光，都在水流中。但我認為展望未來，生產商確實已經學會了降低成本，這將直接使我們受益。

That's helpful. Thank you.

這很有幫助。謝謝。

Gabriel Moreen, Mizuho.

加布里埃爾·莫林，瑞穗。

Hey, good morning, everyone, and my congratulations to Alan and Chad as well. May I want to start out sort of at a different angle on the Socrates and data center projects. Can you talk about risk management overall for these projects given long-term fixed-price contracts on the power side?

嘿，大家早上好，我也祝賀艾倫和查德。我想從不同的角度來談談蘇格拉底和資料中心專案。考慮到電力方面的長期固定價格合同，您能否談談這些項目的整體風險管理？

To what extent you're comfortable with locking in gas and gas costs, I guess, for that long? What happens in the event of force majeure? And also to what extent Sequent may or may not be involved in helping you manage all this risk?

我想，在多大程度上，您願意長期鎖定天然氣和天然氣成本？如果發生不可抗力，會發生什麼情況？Sequent 在多大程度上可能會或可能不會參與幫助您管理所有這些風險？

Yeah, thanks, Gabriel. Good questions. First of all, what I'd say is when we talk about a fixed-price purchase agreement, it's a fixed-price, effectively, return on our capital and a pass-through for the gas that we'll be sourcing for the customer. So we are not exposed to commodity price.

是的，謝謝，加布里埃爾。好問題。首先，我想說的是，當我們談論固定價格購買協議時，它實際上是一種固定價格，是我們資本的回報，也是我們為客戶購買的天然氣的轉嫁。因此我們不受商品價格的影響。

And Sequent will be helping to source and deliver gas on behalf of our customer, but we aren't taking commodity price exposure. On things like force majeure, I would just say that -- Alan said it -- we are -- and the team is building a very high-trust relationship with these counterparties. I mean, this is some of the best credit out there from a customer opportunity perspective.

Sequent 將協助我們的客戶採購和運送天然氣，但我們不會承擔商品價格風險。對於不可抗力等問題，我只想說——艾倫說過——我們——並且團隊正在與這些交易對手建立高度信任的關係。我的意思是，從客戶機會的角度來看，這是最好的信貸之一。

And the customer has been with us in lockstep, making sure that we can go out and invest in these projects in a bit of a new arena, albeit playing to our core strengths and capabilities and things we've done before. But we have very high degree of protection from a contracting perspective.

客戶一直與我們保持步調一致，確保我們能夠發揮我們的核心優勢和能力以及我們以前做過的事情，在稍微新的領域中投資這些項目。但從承包角度來看，我們的保護程度非常高。

And so I think the team has done a great job mitigating the risk and capturing very attractive returns. And so I don't see any of the risk issues that are problematic for us. In fact, I would say we've mitigated risk on these projects beyond what we could even see on some of our core transmission projects.

因此我認為團隊在降低風險和獲得非常可觀的回報方面做得很好。因此，我認為不存在任何對我們構成問題的風險問題。事實上，我想說我們已經降低了這些項目的風險，甚至超過了我們在某些​​核心傳輸項目上看到的風險。

Thanks, Chad. And then maybe if I can ask a question on gas storage. Just broadly what you're seeing right now, where some of the maybe potential expansions in your backlog may lie? Just looking an update there.

謝謝，乍得。然後也許我可以問一個關於天然氣儲存的問題。就您目前所見，您的積壓訂單中可能存在哪些潛在的擴展？只是在那裡查看更新。

Yeah. We've certainly announced our Pine Prairie expansion and that we've seen significant interest in the market on Pine Prairie and that Gulf Coast area. As we see this new wave of LNG and potentially even additional LNG FIDs that may not have been in a lot of forecast models, we're going to continue to see and we're seeing a lot of interest and frankly, need for Gulf Coast storage.

是的。我們已經宣布了 Pine Prairie 的擴張計劃，並且我們看到了市場對 Pine Prairie 和墨西哥灣沿岸地區的巨大興趣。當我們看到這波新的液化天然氣浪潮，甚至可能出現許多預測模型中未曾出現過的額外液化天然氣最終投資決定時，我們將繼續看到，並且我們看到了人們對墨西哥灣沿岸儲存設施的濃厚興趣和坦率的需求。

And so Pine Prairie is underway. That's a 10 Bcf storage expansion, but we expect to continue to see very strong recontracting across the board on our Gulf Coast storage assets. And we'll -- I don't want to get too far ahead of making sure we lock down Pine Prairie. But I would expect additional expansions that we'll be working on, in particular, along the Gulf Coast.

因此，Pine Prairie 正在進行中。這是 100 億立方英尺的儲存擴張，但我們預計墨西哥灣沿岸儲存資產將繼續全面出現強勁的重新收縮。我們會—我不想走太遠，確保我們能封鎖松草原。但我預計我們將進行更多的擴建，特別是在墨西哥灣沿岸。

Thanks, Al (sic - Chad).

謝謝，艾爾（原文如此 - 查德）。

Jean Ann Salisbury, BofA.

美國銀行的 Jean Ann Salisbury。

Hi, congrats to everyone, and good morning. Can you share a little more color on what the Transco Power Express project does? Is it taking that 950 MMcf/d on Transco North from Station 165 up to Northern Virginia? And I guess, does it rely on Mountain Valley Pipeline expansion going forward in order to proceed?

嗨，祝賀大家，早安。您能否詳細介紹一下 Transco Power Express 專案？它是否將 Transco North 的 950 MMcf/d 從 165 號站運送到北維吉尼亞？我猜，它是否依賴山谷管道的擴建才能繼續進行？

Yeah, I can take this. This is Larry. Great question. It is a 950-day expansion, primarily sourcing from Station 165 going North. It is not dependent upon the Mountain Valley expansion -- Mountain Valley Pipeline expansion at this point.

是的，我可以接受。這是拉里。好問題。這是為期 950 天的擴展，主要從北邊的 165 號站採購。目前，它並不依賴山谷擴建——山谷管道擴建。

And it's really scalable, as Alan mentioned earlier. I think that's a great thing about the ability to be able to move volumes through the Transco system. And so right now, it's primarily targeted to be that North flow capacity.

正如艾倫之前提到的，它確實具有可擴展性。我認為能夠透過 Transco 系統移動貨物是一件很棒的事情。因此，目前，主要目標是實現北部流量容量。

Great. That's very clear. Thank you. And then as a follow-up, can you just update us on if you are pursuing Constitution? I think that, relatedly, there's an open season on Millennium Pipeline that looks much like Constitution. So if that goes forward, would it replace the need for Constitution? Thank you.

偉大的。這非常清楚。謝謝。然後作為後續問題，您能否告訴我們您是否正在追求憲法？我認為，與此相關的是，千禧輸油管的開放期與憲法輸油管的開放期非常相似。那麼如果這項計畫得以實施，它是否會取代憲法的需要？謝謝。

Yeah. I would just say the Constitution really has the direct connection into those supplies or that project would. So that needs to happen one way or the other. Certainly, an opportunity, I think, for pipelines to work together out there, to piece together solutions to serve those markets. So we'll see.

是的。我只想說，憲法確實與這些物資或項目有直接聯繫。所以，不管怎樣，這都需要實現。當然，我認為，這是一個讓管道在那裡合作、共同製定解決方案來服務這些市場的機會。我們拭目以待。

We certainly are working that project, lots of hurdles to overcome there. And as you point out, really, it does require a combination of pipeline solutions to get all the way into the end markets up there. So we may see that.

我們確實在進行該項目，但仍有許多障礙需要克服。正如您所指出的，它確實需要結合多種管道解決方案才能進入終端市場。所以我們可能會看到這一點。

But certainly working that, also working NESE and excited about NESE. And NESE is a lot easier to pull the trigger on, frankly, just a lot less complex and highly dependent on the state of New York and the governor there deciding that they need low-cost, low-emission energy into those markets. So we'll see what happens on that.

但肯定在工作，也在工作 NESE 並且對 NESE 感到興奮。坦白說，NESE 的實施要容易得多，只是複雜度要低得多，而且高度依賴紐約州和州長的決定，即他們需要低成本、低排放的能源進入這些市場。我們將拭目以待。

Great. Thanks a lot, and congrats again.

偉大的。非常感謝，再次恭喜。

I don't think not too much new to mention yet on Constitution. We're continuing to work on it.

我認為關於憲法目前還沒有太多新內容可以提及。我們正在繼續努力。

Great. Thank you so much.

偉大的。太感謝了。

John Mackay, Goldman Sachs.

高盛的約翰·麥凱。

Hey, good morning. Thanks for your time, and congrats to everyone from me as well. I wanted to start on permitting reform.

嘿，早安。感謝您抽出時間，我也代表我向大家表示祝賀。我想開始進行許可改革。

We've seen some Army Corps announcements on kind of fast tracking there under the, I guess, national emergency authorization. Just curious what your view is on momentum in Washington, whether we could think about some of the project timelines improving from here. Thanks.

我們看到陸軍工程兵團宣布，根據國家緊急狀態授權，將採取一些快速行動。我只是好奇您對華盛頓的勢頭有何看法，我們是否可以考慮從現在開始改進一些專案時間表。謝謝。

Yeah. I would just say we're encouraged. We know both the administration is working hard to clear any barriers that exist. The FERC as well has been really working hard, and I think the FERC is really a critical component for us. But they continue to work hard to clear the deck of whatever obstacles they can control.

是的。我只想說我們受到了鼓舞。我們知道，兩屆政府都在努力清除現有的一切障礙。聯邦能源管理委員會 (FERC) 也一直在努力工作，我認為 FERC 對我們來說確實是一個至關重要的組成部分。但他們仍會繼續努力清除他們所能控制的一切障礙。

But none of that really changes the fact of the permitting process being very exposed to litigation and to obstructive environmentalists throwing wrenches in projects and filing suits that tie the projects up. So that's the piece that judicial reform in the legislative process needs to be fixed. And we're certainly going to work on that.

但這些都無法真正改變許可程序極易引發訴訟的事實，而且環保人士會阻撓計畫並提起訴訟，導致計畫無法進行。所以這是立法過程中司法改革需要解決的問題。我們一定會努力實現這個目標。

So we're encouraged. It's nice to see some people that are actually think their job is to help get infrastructure built as opposed to obstruct it. And so we're encouraged by that. But it is going to take ultimately some legislative reform to be more permanent. Larry, do you have anything to add to that?

因此我們感到鼓舞。很高興看到有些人確實認為他們的工作是幫助建立基礎設施而不是阻礙它。因此我們對此感到鼓舞。但最終需要進行一些立法改革才能使其更加持久。拉里，你還有什麼要補充的嗎？

No, I agree. I think there's good momentum in DC to get that reform, but it's ultimately going to be required.

不，我同意。我認為華盛頓特區有良好的勢頭來推動這項改革，但最終還是需要這樣做。

I appreciate that. Thank you. And maybe just going to the power projects. Should we think of Socrates and kind of whatever is coming next -- are your customers thinking about that as an effectively permanent power solution? Or is this kind of a phase one with some of these smaller turbines and then eventually, you'd look to stand up something a little larger and maybe more permanent?

我很感激。謝謝。或許只是去電力專案。我們是否應該考慮蘇格拉底以及接下來會發生什麼事——您的客戶是否認為這是一種有效的永久電力解決方案？或者這只是第一階段，先安裝一些較小的渦輪機，最終，您會考慮安裝更大、更持久的渦輪機嗎？

Yeah, thanks, John. This is Chad. For these projects, in particular, generally, the customer is viewing them as a permanent solution. We will have the ability to -- if it makes sense for us and for the customer to make a grid connection and to optimize the use of the equipment, we will have that capability.

是的，謝謝，約翰。這是乍得。對於這些項目，特別是一般來說，客戶將其視為永久的解決方案。我們將有能力——如果對我們和客戶來說建立電網連接並優化設備的使用是有意義的，我們將擁有這種能力。

But I do think it's important to note -- we talked about, just as an example, on the first project, we do have a 10-year contract with an option for extension. But the customer has partnered with us on 15 years of pipeline capacity to serve this facility. And so we view these as making sure that we can provide grid level of reliability, but with certainty and control for the customer to get online quickly and continue to operate these facilities for the long term.

但我確實認為有必要注意——我們討論過，僅作為一個例子，在第一個項目中，我們確實有一個 10 年合同，可以選擇續約。但客戶已與我們合作，以 15 年的管道容量為該設施提供服務。因此，我們認為這些措施可以確保我們能夠提供電網等級的可靠性，但同時確保客戶能夠確定並控制快速上線並長期繼續營運這些設施。

Yeah. One of the things I think is missed in this whole discussion on this topic is that, one of the things that kind of attracted us to these solutions in the first place is we were seeing how much money was being invested in diesel-fired backup generation for the full capacity of the facilities. That's an enormous expense on the one hand, and it's also a tremendous amount of emissions even if it's only running a couple of days.

是的。我認為在整個關於這個主題的討論中忽略的一點是，最初吸引我們採用這些解決方案的其中一個原因是，我們看到了為滿足設施的全部容量，在柴油備用發電方面投入了多少錢。一方面，這是一筆巨大的開支，而且即使只運行幾天，也會產生巨大的排放量。

And so we do see this ultimately as a great -- but that acknowledging how much money was being invested on standby puts these facility at -- kind of the worst-case condition on this would be this being purchased at its original construction cost and standby generation.

因此，我們確實認為這最終是一件好事 — — 但承認在備用電力上投入了多少錢，這些設施就處於 — — 最糟糕的情況是按其原始建設成本和備用發電量購買。

So we think this is a very elegant solution versus all the money that's been spent on diesel-fired generation is to have gas-fired backup ultimately at these facilities. So that would kind of be a worst-case scenario. Our returns don't depend on that actually, to be clear. But that would be a huge home run if that was the outcome.

因此，我們認為這是一個非常優雅的解決方案，與柴油發電所花費的所有資金相比，這些設施最終將擁有燃氣備用電源。所以這可能是最糟糕的情況。需要明確的是，我們的回報實際上並不取決於此。但如果結果真是如此，那將是一個巨大的本壘打。

That makes sense. Thanks, Alan. Thanks, Chad.

這很有道理。謝謝，艾倫。謝謝，乍得。

Manav Gupta, UBS.

瑞銀的 Manav Gupta。

(inaudible - microphone inaccessible)

（聽不清楚 - 麥克風無法使用）

Manav, (multiple speakers) --?

馬納夫，（多位發言者）－？

Manav, (multiple speakers) --

馬納夫，（多位發言者）——

Can you hear me now?

現在你能聽到我說話嗎？

Yes.

是的。

Yes, now we can hear you.

是的，現在我們可以聽到您的聲音了。

Sorry about that. My question is on the Haynesville side. You obviously have two attractive projects coming on later in the year. But as you see this LNG growth happening on the Gulf Coast, what will be the demand pull on the Haynesville Basin, and how can Williams benefit from all these projects?

很抱歉。我的問題是關於海恩斯維爾方面。顯然，您今年稍後將推出兩個有吸引力的項目。但是，正如您所看到的，墨西哥灣沿岸的液化天然氣正在增長，那麼海恩斯維爾盆地的需求拉動會是什麼呢？威廉斯又能從這些項目中獲益多少呢？

Yeah. This is Larry. I'll take that question. Yeah, obviously, we've got the LEG project that's coming online here in the third quarter this year, that's going to create a lot of additional delivery capacity out of the Haynesville.

是的。這是拉里。我來回答這個問題。是的，顯然，我們的 LEG 專案將於今年第三季上線，這將為海恩斯維爾創造大量額外的交付能力。

And as we continue to see more and more projects get sanctioned as well as come online over the next few years, we do expect it to be a pretty significant demand pull on the Haynesville supply. And we're working very closely with our customers on potential other projects that could materialize, I think, over the next couple of years.

隨著我們繼續看到越來越多的項目在未來幾年獲得批准並上線，我們預計這將對海恩斯維爾的供應產生相當大的需求拉動。我們正在與客戶密切合作，開展其他可能在未來幾年內實現的項目。

I think right now, they're kind of growing back and building up the supply into existing capacity as we saw the pullback from last year. But I think as you look at that outlook over the next several years, we're seeing tremendous pull on the Haynesville, several Bcf over the next few years, just to be able to meet the growing LNG demand. So we anticipate there'll be more projects to come.

我認為現在，它們正在恢復成長，並將供應量增加到現有產能中，就像我們看到去年的回檔一樣。但我認為，展望未來幾年，我們將看到海恩斯維爾的巨大吸引力，未來幾年將增加數十億立方英尺，以滿足日益增長的液化天然氣需求。因此我們預計未來還會有更多的項目。

Perfect. My quick follow-up is, you have a long-term guidance of 5% to 7% EBITDA growth. But the project lineup is looking very attractive. So I'm just trying to understand, for '26 and '27, what could push this more towards like 7% versus 5% or even higher for '26 and '27? What could drive you towards the top end of that guide? Thank you.

完美的。我的快速跟進是，您有一個長期指導，即 EBITDA 增長 5% 至 7%。但項目陣容看起來非常有吸引力。因此，我只是想了解，對於 26 年和 27 年來說，什麼因素可以推動這一數字進一步接近 7%，而不是 5% 甚至更高？什麼可以推動您達到該指南的頂端？謝謝。

Yeah. I would just say we've had that 5% to 7% for quite some time, and we have been outperforming on that. And the amount of high-return projects that are coming at us right now would certainly drive us towards the higher end of that. And so one of the challenges has been in the coming year as we continue to beat our prior-year estimates, so the percentage raise gets to be tougher and tougher.

是的。我想說的是，我們保持 5% 到 7% 這一水平已經有一段時間了，而且我們的表現一直很出色。而目前我們面臨的大量高回報項目必將推動我們朝更高的目標邁進。因此，我們面臨的挑戰之一是，隨著我們繼續超越去年的預期，來年的百分比成長將變得越來越艱難。

But I would say right now, given the projects that we have coming at us, I do think that we certainly have the ability to be towards the higher end of that, even acknowledging the law of big numbers. And so it is a pretty exciting time to think that you can continue this pace at the scale that we're operating at.

但我現在想說，考慮到我們面臨的項目，我確實認為我們肯定有能力達到更高的目標，即使承認大數定律。因此，想到我們可以按照目前的規模繼續保持這種速度，這是一個非常令人興奮的時刻。

Thank you for the response, and I'm sorry about the earlier voice issues.

感謝您的回复，對於之前的聲音問題我深感抱歉。

No problem. Thanks.

沒問題。謝謝。

Zack Van Everen, TPH&Co.

範埃弗倫（Zack Van Everen），TPH&Co.

Hi, all, thanks for taking my questions, and congrats to the team. Maybe just sticking on the power projects. Could you remind us or give a little bit more details on the gas demand for Socrates, how much you expect that project to pull in, whether it's Sequent delivering it or just off of your pipelines?

大家好，感謝你們回答我的問題，並向團隊表示祝賀。也許只是堅持電力項目。您能否提醒我們或提供一些有關蘇格拉底天然氣需求的更多細節，您預計該專案的天然氣需求量是多少，無論是 Sequent 輸送還是直接從您的管道輸送？

Yeah. It's a fairly modest amount of gas. It's under 100 million cubic feet a day for Socrates, and we will be sourcing gas off of two different pipelines in Ohio. We'll be building pipeline interconnections and laterals to connect the Socrates sites. There are two sites that connect to those pipeline supplies. And, yes, Sequent will be providing the services on behalf of the customer to make sure that we can buy that gas and deliver that gas to the customer.

是的。這是相當少量的氣體。蘇格拉底每天的天然氣供應量不到 1 億立方英尺，我們將從俄亥俄州的兩條不同的管道購買天然氣。我們將建造管道互連線和支線，以連接蘇格拉底各個站點。有兩個站點與這些管道供應相連。是的，Sequent 將代表客戶提供服務，以確保我們能夠購買天然氣並將其輸送給客戶。

Got you. That makes sense. And then maybe one on Cogentrix. Should we think of these earnings as more of marketing-style earnings, higher in the winter? Or are there some fixed contracts on the gas side that will have a base earnings for this business?

明白了。這很有道理。然後也許還有一篇關於 Cogentrix 的文章。我們是否應該將這些收益視為更多的行銷式收益，冬季收益更高？或者在天然氣方面是否存在一些固定合同，可以為這項業務提供基本收益？

Yeah. I'd say more to come as we spend more time with the Cogentrix team. But for the most part, we do see these earnings as fairly stable. They're going to be reported in our Sequent marketing business. But we would expect that the run rate earnings to be fairly stable based on what we've seen from historic performance.

是的。隨著我們與 Cogentrix 團隊相處的時間越來越長，我會分享更多。但整體而言，我們確實認為這些收益相當穩定。它們將會在我們的 Sequent 行銷業務中進行報告。但根據歷史表現，我們預期運行率收益將相當穩定。

But also, we like the fundamentals and the setup over time as we think we'll continue to see increasing capacity pricing and spark spreads. But again, the focus for us is on a stable, fairly predictable addition to the Sequent business, but a vehicle that's really going to position us to understand those markets and we think drive additional core business based on that engagement.

但同時，我們也看好基本面和長期的設置，因為我們認為我們將繼續看到容量定價和火花價差的上升。但是，我們的重點是穩定、相當可預測地增加 Sequent 業務，但這確實是一個讓我們能夠了解這些市場的工具，我們認為這種參與能夠推動額外的核心業務。

Got it. That makes sense. Thanks for your time.

知道了。這很有道理。感謝您的時間。

Keith Stanley, Wolfe Research.

基斯‧史丹利（Keith Stanley），沃爾夫研究公司。

Hi. Good morning. Thank you. I wanted to ask on the pace of potential data center projects from here. So the website says you could provide a gigawatt of power solutions to data centers by 2027, which would be quite fast. Curious if that's tied to supply chain constraints or any other inputs.

你好。早安.謝謝。我想詢問一下這裡潛在的資料中心專案的進展。因此網站表示，到 2027 年，可以為資料中心提供千兆瓦的電力解決方案，這將是相當快的。好奇這是否與供應鏈限製或任何其他投入有關。

And then it seems on the call, you were kind of implying more spacing of these projects with the next two through the end of the decade. So just a sense of what's realistic as far as timing and stringing together more of these projects.

然後，在電話會議上，您似乎暗示這些項目與接下來的兩個項目在十年末之間有更多的間隔。因此，就時間安排和串聯更多項目而言，這只是一個現實的感覺。

Yeah. Thanks. This is Chad again. First, I'd say there is certainly going to be some tempering of pace based on supply chain, but we've done a really good job. The team has done a great job of getting out and securing slots within the vendor community to make sure that we can deliver projects.

是的。謝謝。我又是查德。首先，我想說，基於供應鏈，我們肯定會放慢一些步伐，但我們已經做得很好了。該團隊在供應商社群中取得了巨大成功，確保了我們能夠交付專案。

Putting exact numbers on it is tough. But in that gigawatt range by the end of '26, I think, it's reasonable. I think layering that -- sorry -- by '27 is certainly reasonable. I think layering in that kind of scale is absolutely doable.

給出確切的數字是困難的。但我認為，到 26 年底，達到千兆瓦的水平是合理的。我認為到 27 年分層 —— 抱歉 —— 肯定是合理的。我認為這種規模的分層是絕對可行的。

I will say we're also working with companies that have purchased or have space from a turbine and power generation perspective. We are on these first projects doing the entire project ourselves. But our goal is to bring whatever capabilities we can to put solutions together for customers.

我想說的是，我們還在與從渦輪機和發電角度購買或擁有空間的公司合作。在這些首批專案中，我們自己完成了整個專案。但我們的目標是盡我們所能為客戶提供解決方案。

And so I do think we've got the ability to work with others that may have equipment deliveries and find projects to put to work. But again, our goal is to layer this in, in a way that complements the balance sheet capacity that doesn't stress the credit metrics. And we'll layer in projects year over year, I think, likely through the end of the decade.

因此我確實認為我們有能力與其他可能擁有設備交付的公司合作並找到可以投入實施的專案。但同樣，我們的目標是分層實施，以補充資產負債表容量，而不會對信用指標造成壓力。我認為，我們將逐年推進該項目，可能持續到本世紀末。

And sorry, to clarify on that, the 1 gigawatt by the end of 2027 is to have those projects online by the end of '27 or to FID them by the end of '27?

抱歉，需要澄清一下，2027 年底的 1 千兆瓦是指在 2027 年底之前讓這些項目上線，還是在 2027 年底前完成最終決定 (FID)？

No, those would be online.

不，那些會在線上。

Okay. Great. Thanks for that. Second question, I wanted to ask on Northwest Pipeline. There's a proposed larger project out there to add looping and compression, and bring gas from Wyoming to the Pacific Northwest. Can you talk to the potential size of that investment for that project, timing, and how likely it is to move forward?

好的。偉大的。謝謝。第二個問題，我想問西北管道。有一個更大的項目正在提議中，旨在增加循環和壓縮，並將天然氣從懷俄明州輸送到太平洋西北地區。您能否談談該專案的潛在投資規模、時間以及進展的可能性？

Well, I would just say, if you're seeing it in our material, obviously, there's a pretty good likelihood it will be moving forward. Because it has come through a pretty rigorous test to get to that point. But there is a number of parties to contract with on that project.

好吧，我只想說，如果你在我們的材料中看到它，顯然，它很有可能會向前發展。因為它已經通過了相當嚴格的測試才達到這一點。但該項目需要與多方簽訂合約。

And effectively, some of those projects are effectively providing power generation in Idaho. A lot of that is providing power generation in Idaho for the benefit of Oregon and Washington because they don't want to put emissions in their own state. But -- so that's just providing an opportunity for Idaho and for some of the power generation there.

實際上，其中一些項目正在為愛達荷州提供發電。其中很大一部分是為愛達荷州提供發電，以造福俄勒岡州和華盛頓州，因為他們不想在本州產生排放。但是——這只是為愛達荷州和那裡的部分發電提供了機會。

So we'll see how that goes. I will say we're very surprised over the last four or five months, how many new projects have started to emerge out West, as they realize how much they need power in those markets as well. So both on Mountain West in the Salt Lake area and then up through Idaho and along -- even along the coast line.

我們將拭目以待。我想說的是，我們非常驚訝在過去的四、五個月裡，有多少新計畫開始在西部湧現，因為他們意識到他們也需要這些市場的電力。因此，既可以位於鹽湖城地區的西部山區，也可以穿過愛達荷州，甚至沿著海岸線。

So more to come on that. But I would say that's probably been one of my bigger surprises over the last six months in terms of all the facets of growth we have, is how much that's picking up in that area. And people are starting to realize that they are going to need reliable power generation in those markets.

對此我們還有更多內容。但我想說，就我們所有成長方面而言，這可能是過去六個月來我最大的驚喜之一，那就是該領域的成長速度有多快。人們開始意識到這些市場需要可靠的發電。

So I think one thing, though, that is something to keep your eye on is a lot of big coal plants in those markets. And with the effort to maintain coal plants, which I think given the power demand issues we have is not a terrible idea, that we may see some of that coal remain online out there.

因此，我認為有一件事值得關注，那就是這些市場上有許多大型燃煤電廠。透過努力維護燃煤電廠，我認為考慮到我們面臨的電力需求問題，這不是一個糟糕的想法，我們可能會看到一些煤炭電廠繼續在那裡運作。

So that's to be determined, but that is a potential shift in those markets out there. But the Salt Lake area and the Idaho area are getting pretty hot in terms of power demands for data centers in those markets. And we absolutely are going to be a part of providing those solutions.

這還有待確定，但這可能是這些市場發生的變化。但就這些市場的資料中心電力需求而言，鹽湖城地區和愛達荷州地區的電力需求相當強勁。我們絕對會盡全力提供這些解決方案。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you. That concludes the Q&A portion of our call. I will now turn it over to President and CEO, Alan Armstrong, for closing remarks.

謝謝。我們的電話問答部分到此結束。現在，我將把時間交給總裁兼執行長艾倫·阿姆斯特朗 (Alan Armstrong) 來做最後發言。

Okay. Great. Well, thanks, everyone. We certainly appreciate your time today. I'm just going to wrap up by saying that I have seen firsthand what this company can accomplish. And I'm confident our best chapters are still ahead of us, as demand for natural gas continues to accelerate and the value of our critical energy infrastructure is realized.

好的。偉大的。好的，謝謝大家。我們非常感謝您今天抽出時間。最後我想說的是，我親眼目睹了這家公司所能達成的成就。我相信，隨著天然氣需求的持續成長和關鍵能源基礎設施價值的實現，我們最好的篇章仍在前方。

You should be confident, as I certainly am, that the company is in the hands of trusted and capable leaders who have a passion for Williams and a vision to be the very best energy infrastructure company in the US. And so with that, I just want to say a final thank you to the investors and the analysts that have followed us for so many years, and appreciate your confidence in the company. Thank you.

您應該和我一樣有信心，公司由值得信賴且有能力的領導者掌管，他們對威廉斯充滿熱情，並致力於成為美國最好的能源基礎設施公司。最後，我只想向多年來關注我們的投資者和分析師表示感謝，感謝你們對公司的信心。謝謝。

Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This concludes the program. You may now disconnect.

感謝大家參加今天的會議。本節目到此結束。您現在可以斷開連線。