On Friday Reuters reported that homes and businesses in Texas used record amounts of power for a second straight day on Thursday and are expected to use even more in the coming days, to escape a brutal heat wave. To keep those air conditioners humming, Texas utilities are buying electricity from all sources, which boosted power prices to a near seven-year high. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas said demand reached 73,259 megawatts on Thursday, topping the prior all-time high of 72,192.