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Best mayor in the world? Annise Parker on short list for big international prize

Houston Mayor Annise Parker has made the official short list for the 2014 World Mayor Prize, an international contest for the best mayor in the world.

Parker is just one of three United States mayors to make the cut. Her North American counterparts Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi, Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett and Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson are also up for award.

The organization requests voters to email reasons why she should win, using “Houston Parker” in the subject line and provide your name and city, to Houston@worldmayor.com.

The global honor is given to mayors who exemplify a host of leadership qualities such as honesty, leadership, vision, integrity, social and economic awareness and fostering good relations among different cultural, racial and social backgrounds. Parker has been elected Houston's mayor three times and garnered national attention for being the first openly gay mayor of a major U.S. city.

“I’m flattered to be nominated. It’s wonderful to see that Houston is receiving world-wide attention. Our team is committed to taking a stand on significant issues,” Parker said via email.

The 2014 World Mayor Prize, which is sponsored by City Mayors Foundation, an international think tank based in London, is truly global with a total of 26 nominees from Latin America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa up for the prize. The winner receives the World Mayor trophy and the runner-up is given the World Mayor Commendation.

The long list of nominees was a bit curious considering it also included former Toronto mayor Rob Ford, who built a reputation as crack-smoking, drunk driver rather than an integrity-fueled city leader. Ford was later cut from the list as it was whittled down to the finalists.

The World Mayor Prize is encouraging each city’s residents to vote for their respective mayor through the end of October. The organization requests voters to email reasons why she should win, using “Houston Parker” in the subject line and provide your name and city at the end of the email. Use the address Houston@worldmayor.com.

The prize is given every two years. The 2012 winner wasIñaki Azkuna from Bilbao, Spain and the runners-up were Lisa Scaffidi from Perth, Australia and Joko Widodo from Surakarta, Indonesia.

Annise Parker celebrated her election to third term as mayor in 2013.

Mayor Annise Parker wins election November 2013

AnniseParker.com

Annise Parker celebrated her election to third term as mayor in 2013.

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Summer swelter

Texas charges up as No. 2 state most at risk for summer power outages

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Texas led the list of states with the most hours of summertime power outages.

Warning: Houston could be in for an especially uncomfortable summer. A new study puts Texas at No. 2 among the states most at risk for power outages this summer. Michigan tops the list.

Solar energy company Wolf River Electric analyzed the number of large-scale outages that left more than 5,000 utility customers, including homes, stores and schools, without summertime electricity from 2019 to 2023. During that period, Texas experienced 7,164 summertime power outages.

Despite Michigan being hit with more summertime outages, Texas led the list of states with the most hours of summertime power outages — an annual average of 35,440. That works out to 1,477 days.

“This means power cuts in Texas tend to last longer, making summer especially tough for residents and businesses,” the study says.

This news comes on the heels of another study that said Houston is among nine major U.S. cities that now experience at least 50 more days per year with above-normal summer temperatures than they did in 1970. The average summer temperature in Houston rose by 4.6 degrees from 1970 to 2024, according to Climate Central.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which operates the electric grid serving 90 percent of the state, predicts its system will set a monthly record for peak demand this August — 85,759 megawatts. That would exceed the current record of 85,508 megawatts, dating back to August 2023.

In 2025, natural gas will account for 37.7 percent of ERCOT’s summertime power-generating capacity, followed by wind (22.9 percent) and solar (19 percent), according to an ERCOT fact sheet.

This year, ERCOT expects four months to surpass peak demand of 80,000 megawatts:

June 2025 — 82,243 megawatts
July 2025 — 84,103 megawatts
August 2025 — 85,759 megawatts
September 2025 — 80,773 megawatts

One megawatt is enough power to serve about 250 residential customers amid peak demand, according to ERCOT. Using that figure, the projected peak of 85,759 megawatts in August would supply enough power to serve more than 21.4 million residential customers in Texas.

Data centers, artificial intelligence, and population growth are driving up power demand in Texas, straining the ERCOT grid. In January, ERCOT laid out a nearly $33 billion plan to boost power transmission capabilities in its service area.

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This story originally appeared on our sister site, EnergyCapitalHTX.

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