CNBC’s “Money Movers” team discusses liquefied natural gas production, energy costs, the demand for AI and more with Williams CEO and president Chad Zamarin. He says natural gas is the fastest way to power AI data centers.

Williams, a major U.S. natural gas pipeline operator, is positioning natural gas as the fastest and most reliable solution to meet the surging power demands of AI data centers. CEO Chad Zemarin emphasized that the U.S. has ample supply and the ability to deliver low-cost, clean energy, which is crucial for both domestic needs and growing export commitments, such as a recent deal with the EU.

The company is advancing projects like the Socrates Power Solutions Facilities, designed to quickly bring utility-scale power generation online for major technology companies. Zemarin noted that natural gas infrastructure is essential for the U.S. to remain competitive in the global race for AI, despite ongoing challenges in building new energy infrastructure.

Why U.S. natural gas is fastest solution to power AI data centers

Take a look at shares of Williams. The company handles roughly a third of all the natural gas that is transported in the U.S. It oversees more than 30,000 miles of pipelines. It was a miss on Q2 earnings. You can see that's weighing on the stock a bit. Despite posting better than expected revenue, it did raise as well the low end of its guidance into year end. Joining us now in a first on CNBC interview is Williams CEO Chad Zemarin. Chad, good to have you this morning. You know, we were just talking with our last guest, David Zervos, about deregulation and the importance that will have for the economy. I'm sort of curious to get your perspective, given obviously one would expect that Williams would be a beneficiary of that kind of deregulation. Is that a fair case? Yeah, I think it's a fair case, David. Thanks for having me. I think more importantly, the country would be a beneficiary. You know, we talk about some of our largest projects. We build large energy infrastructure for the country, and it can take longer and cost more to permit a project than it does to buy the steel that we install when we build our projects. And so when you think about lowering costs for consumers and getting back to building as a country, winning the race for infrastructure and ultimately for this next generation of technology, it's a huge opportunity not just for companies like ours, but frankly, for our country. You know, speaking of our country and the production of LNG in particular, we speak here often about the needs for all the data centers and what's going to power them. And obviously, natural gas does that, and there's an enormous need there. And then we've got this new deal with the EU in which, at least on paper, it says we're going to sell them or they're going to buy as much as $250 billion a year worth. Do we have enough, given the export demand potentially, not to mention what we need domestically? Yeah, we do. I mean, the U.S. producer has really brought an incredible opportunity for us as a country to produce American energy low cost. You know, natural gas on an MMBTU equivalent is four times cheaper than a barrel of oil. And so, you know, we have the ability to produce the lowest cost energy on the planet. And what we know, what we've shown here in the United States is natural gas has been the most powerful decarbonization tool that we have. We've driven down emissions in the U.S. by displacing high emissions fuels. And so we do have enough supply here in the United States, and I think really recognized globally as an important tool to help us meet the world's need for clean, affordable, reliable energy, but also lower emissions around the world. Yeah. You know, I mentioned data centers, and I think you guys recently announced something called what the power, the power, the Socrates Power Solutions Facilities Project. I want to make sure I get that right. But about a billion six for behind the meter. I think Meta, for example, is the first one of the first users in Albany, Ohio. Now, you're I mean, you're a midstream natural gas pipeline company. So what are the benefits and or the risks of sort of venturing into this business? Yeah, I mean, as I mentioned, you know, natural gas, clean, affordable, reliable. But also we've seen this emergence of the need for speed. I mean, the race for AI, the race for the next generation of technology is on. And it's a race that we as a country can't afford to lose. And so we know that the most dispatchable, fastest solution we have to bring power to data centers here in the United States is going to be U.S. produced natural gas. And so we're not only working to enhance the infrastructure across our entire footprint, but we're meeting the customers where they have their needs. And you mentioned the first project that we've announced, our project Socrates. I mean, this will be a utility scale power generation facility that we will bring online in under 18 months in order to power one of our country's most important artificial intelligence centers here in the United States. So American produced energy. And we're going to deliver that in under 18 months so that we can win the race for AI. And it's something that I think as a country, we need to take note. It's become increasingly difficult to build infrastructure in the United States. But, you know, luckily, there are still some places where we can bring speed to market. But I think increasingly there's a recognition that natural gas and natural gas infrastructure are going to be absolutely critical to us competing and ultimately winning the race for AI.

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