2.2.0.7 false Organization, Basis of Presentation, and Description of Business 0201 - Disclosure - Organization, Basis of Presentation, and Description of Business true false false false 1 USD false false USD Standard http://www.xbrl.org/2003/iso4217 USD iso4217 0 EPS Divide http://www.xbrl.org/2003/iso4217 USD iso4217 http://www.xbrl.org/2003/instance shares xbrli 0 Shares Standard http://www.xbrl.org/2003/instance shares xbrli 0 $ 2 Organization, Basis of Presentation, and Description of Business [Abstract] 0 us-gaap_GeneralPoliciesAbstract us-gaap true na duration No definition available. false false false false false true false false false false false false 1 false false false false 0 0 false false false xbrli:stringItemType string No definition available. false 3 Organization, Basis of Presentation, and Description of Business 1 us-gaap_OrganizationConsolidationAndPresentationOfFinancialStatementsDisclosureTextBlock us-gaap true na duration No definition available. false false false false false false false false false false false verboselabel false 1 false false false false 0 0 Note 1. Organization, Basis of Presentation, and Description of Business Organization Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, references in this report to “we,” “our,” “us” or similar language refer to Williams Partners L.P. and its subsidiaries.  We are a publicly traded Delaware limited partnership. Williams Partners GP LLC, a Delaware limited liability company wholly owned by The Williams Companies, Inc. (Williams), serves as our general partner. Williams currently owns an approximate 75 percent limited partner interest, a 2 percent general partner interest and incentive distribution rights (IDRs) in us. All of our activities are conducted through Williams Partners Operating LLC (OLLC), an operating limited liability company (wholly owned by us).  The accompanying interim consolidated financial statements do not include all the notes in our annual financial statements and, therefore, should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto for the year ended December 31, 2009 in Exhibit 99.1 of our Form 8-K, dated May 12, 2010. The accompanying interim consolidated financial statements include all normal recurring adjustments that, in the opinion of management, are necessary to present fairly our financial position at September 30, 2010, results of operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2010 and 2009, changes in equity for the nine months ended September 30, 2010, and cash flows for the nine months ended September 30, 2010 and 2009. We eliminated all intercompany transactions and reclassified certain amounts to conform to the current classifications.  The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual results could differ from those estimates.  On May 24, 2010, we and Williams Pipeline Partners L.P. (WMZ) entered into a merger agreement that was consummated on August 31, 2010. All of WMZ's common units not held by its general partner were exchanged at a ratio of 0.7584 of our limited partner units for each WMZ limited partner unit, resulting in the issuance of 13,580,485 of our common units. All WMZ common and subordinated units have been extinguished and WMZ is wholly owned by us. WMZ has been delisted and is no longer publicly traded. As a result of the merger, we now own 100 percent of Northwest Pipeline GP (Northwest Pipeline). Basis of Presentation On February 17, 2010, we closed a transaction (the Dropdown) with our general partner, our operating company and certain subsidiaries of and including Williams, pursuant to which Williams contributed to us the ownership interests in the entities that made up its Gas Pipeline and Midstream Gas & Liquids (Midstream) businesses to the extent not already owned by us, including Williams' limited and general partner interests in WMZ, but excluding its Canadian, Venezuelan and olefins operations, and 25.5 percent of Gulfstream Natural Gas System, L.L.C. (Gulfstream), collectively defined as the Contributed Entities. This contribution was made in exchange for aggregate consideration of: <ul><li>$3.5 billion in cash, less certain expenses incurred by us and other post-closing adjustments, which we financed by issuing $3.5 billion of senior unsecured notes (see Note 4).</li></ul> <ul><li>203 million of our Class C limited partnership units, which automatically converted into our common limited partnership units on May 10, 2010. </li></ul> <ul><li>An increase in the capital account of our general partner to allow it to maintain its 2 percent general partner interest.</li></ul> These transactions are reflected in these consolidated financial statements. Because the acquired entities were affiliates of Williams at the time of the acquisition, this transaction is accounted for as a combination of entities under common control, similar to a pooling of interests, whereby the assets and liabilities of the acquired entities are combined with ours at their historical amounts. The effect of recasting our financial statements to account for this common control transaction increased net income $223 million and $576 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2009, respectively. This acquisition did not impact historical earnings per limited partner unit as pre-acquisition earnings of the Contributed Entities were allocated to our general partner. Description of Business Our operations are located in the United States and are organized into the following reporting segments: Gas Pipeline and Midstream. Gas Pipeline includes Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company, LLC (Transco) and Northwest Pipeline, which own and operates a combined total of approximately 13,900 miles of pipelines with a total annual throughput of approximately 2,700 TBtu of natural gas and peak-day delivery capacity of approximately 12 MMdt of natural gas. Gas Pipeline also holds interests in joint venture interstate and intrastate natural gas pipeline systems including a 24.5 percent interest in Gulfstream, which owns an approximate 745-mile pipeline with the capacity to transport approximately 1.26 million Dth per day of natural gas.  Midstream includes our natural gas gathering, treating and processing businesses and has a primary service area concentrated in major producing basins in Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, the Gulf of Mexico and Pennsylvania. Midstream's primary businesses—natural gas gathering, treating and processing; natural gas liquids (NGL) fractionation, storage and transportation; and oil transportation—fall within the middle of the process of taking raw natural gas and crude oil from the producing fields to the consumers. Note 1. Organization, Basis of Presentation, and Description of Business Organization Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, references in false false false us-types:textBlockItemType textblock Description containing the entire organization, consolidation and basis of presentation of financial statements disclosure. May be provided in more than one note to the financial statements, as long as users are provided with an understanding of (1) the significant judgments and assumptions made by an enterprise in determining whether it must consolidate a VIE and/or disclose information about its involvement with a VIE, (2) the nature of restrictions on a consolidated VIE's assets reported by an enterprise in its statement of financial position, including the carrying amounts of such assets, (3) the nature of, and changes in, the risks associated with an enterprise's involvement with the VIE, and (4) how an enterprise's involvement with the VIE affects the enterprise's financial position, financial performance, and cash flows. Describes procedure if disclosures are provided in more than one note to the financial statements. 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