Williams Partners Receives FERC Approval to Provide Additional Natural Gas Service to Mid-Atlantic by 2012

TULSA, Okla., July 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Williams Partners L.P. (NYSE: WPZ) announced today that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has approved a proposal to expand its Transco natural gas pipeline to provide an additional 142,000 dekatherms of incremental firm natural gas transportation capacity to serve growing markets in the Mid-Atlantic region by November 2012.

The Mid-Atlantic Connector expansion project is designed to provide power generation and local distribution customers in Virginia and Maryland with incremental firm transportation capacity from a Transco interconnection with East Tennessee Natural Gas in Rockingham County, N.C.

"The Mid-Atlantic Connector expansion project will increase the availability of clean energy in this growing region of the United States," said Randy Barnard, president of Williams' natural gas pipeline business. "We appreciate our customers' participation in this project and we look forward to working with them to provide reliable natural gas service for years to come."

The expansion will consist of approximately three miles of new pipeline and upgrades to existing compressor facilities in Virginia. The capital cost of the project is estimated to be $55 million.

The Transco pipeline is a 10,000-mile pipeline system which transports natural gas to markets throughout the northeastern and southeastern United States. The current system capacity is approximately 9.6 million dekatherms per day.

About Williams Partners L.P. (NYSE: WPZ)

Williams Partners L.P. is a leading diversified master limited partnership focused on natural gas transportation; gathering, treating, and processing; storage; natural gas liquid (NGL) fractionation; and oil transportation. The partnership owns interests in three major interstate natural gas pipelines that, combined, deliver 14 percent of the natural gas consumed in the United States. The partnership's gathering and processing assets include large-scale operations in the U.S. Rocky Mountains and both onshore and offshore along the Gulf of Mexico. Williams (NYSE: WMB) owns approximately 75 percent of Williams Partners, including the general-partner interest. More information is available at www.williamslp.com. Go to http://www.b2i.us/irpass.asp?BzID=1296&to=ea&s=0 or http://www.b2i.us/irpass.asp?BzID=630&to=ea&s=0 to join our email list.

Portions of this document may constitute "forward-looking statements" as defined by federal law. Although the partnership believes any such statements are based on reasonable assumptions, there is no assurance that actual outcomes will not be materially different. Any such statements are made in reliance on the "safe harbor" protections provided under the Private Securities Reform Act of 1995. Additional information about issues that could lead to material changes in performance is contained in the partnership's annual reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

SOURCE Williams Partners L.P.