A boost to Texas Healthcare

Couple donates $75 million for research and patient care at two top Texas health institutions

University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

A $25 million grant to MD Anderson Cancer Center will fund melanoma and prostate cancer research and patient care.

Photo courtesy of MD Anderson

Healthcare and medical research in Texas just got a major boost. The Mulva Family Foundation announced a $75 million donation to the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

A $50 million gift was given to advance neuroscience, with an initial focus on Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, and bipolar disorder. The grant will create the Mulva Clinic for the Neurosciences at the new Dell Medical School in Austin.

"We are pleased to establish a new and innovative neurology clinic combining UT Austin’s state-of-the-art research with advanced clinical operations for these widespread and difficult diseases that impact so many people and families,” said Jim and Miriam Mulva in a release.

The two are long-time supporters of advancing healthcare in Texas. Past donations by the Mulva family to the university include multi-year pledges of $40 million to support the McCombs School of Business and $20 million to support the Cockrell School of Engineering.

In addition to creating the Mulva Clinic for the Neurosciences, the Mulva Family Foundation has given $25 million to fund melanoma and prostate cancer research and patient care at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. The goal of the gift, which will be divided equally between prostate and melanoma research, is to advance research and patient care towards two of the most aggressive types of cancer.

“We are profoundly grateful for the Mulva Family Foundation’s remarkable support of MD Anderson’s mission,” said MD Anderson president Ronald A. DePinho, in the release. “Together, we will change the statistics and create new hope for patients and their loved ones facing the challenges of cancer.”

James Mulva is past chairman and CEO of ConocoPhillips and is chair of the MD Anderson Cancer Center Board of Visitors. The couple split their time between Austin and Green Bay, Wisconsin.

health

Power surge

ERCOT braces for record-breaking power demand across Texas this summer

Photo by Andrey Metelev on Unsplash

ERCOT predicts power demand will hit a peak of more than 92.2 gigawatts this summer.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages about 90 percent of the state’s power, is waving a warning flag: The ERCOT grid may set a new record for peak demand in summer 2026.

Based on expectations for a hotter summer this year than last year, ERCOT predicts power demand will hit a peak of more than 92.2 gigawatts this summer — enough power for roughly 18.4 million homes.

“Given the potential for extreme heat combined with significant load growth, ERCOT may surpass its current all-time summer peak,” the organization says in its 2026 summertime forecast.

Further taxing the ERCOT grid are power-hungry data centers and cryptocurrency-mining facilities.

Last year’s peak summer demand for ERCOT reached 83.7 megawatts on August 18, and all-time peak demand of 85.5 gigawatts was recorded on August 10, 2023.

Fortunately, ERCOT believes the grid is in good shape to withstand this summer’s heat: It found a 0.09 percent chance of a grid emergency in June and a 0.21 percent chance in July.

More generation of electricity from solar and wind is helping ERCOT meet stepped-up demand prompted by population growth, and the significant power needs of data centers and cryptocurrency-mining facilities.

About 27 million Texas customers depend on power from ERCOT’s grid.

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This story was first published on our sister site EnergyCapitalHTX.

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