The Birmingham News and al.com are reporting that Stephen Bradley & Associates LLC has been retained by Williams, one of the leading energy infrastructure firms in North America to provide public and community relations counsel in support of a proposed expansion of its natural gas pipeline in Alabama.
“We are pleased to have been retained by Williams to assist with their extensive outreach effort to public officials, first responders and landowners along the pipeline,” president Stephen Bradley said. “Williams operations are critical to our state meeting its energy needs, and therefore to the overall health of our economy,” he said.
Williams (NYSE:WMB), which owns or operates more than 15,000 miles of interstate natural gas pipelines, hired the Birmingham and Montgomery-based firm to work on the proposed Hillabee expansion project for its Transco pipeline. The pipeline is a 10,200 mile-long natural gas transportation system, from South Texas to New York City, part of which transverses south central Alabama. It delivers 8% of the natural gas consumed in the United States and roughly one-third of the gas consumed in Alabama each year.
Williams employs more than 125 workers within Alabama, with wages totaling $13.9 million in 2012. It also contributes more than $4.5 million in property tax revenue in Alabama.