Earlier this year, state senator Phil King took the unusual step of wading into a fight between Oncor, the company that owns and operates the electrical wires throughout much of North and West Texas, and its customers—among them some of his constituents.Oncor had asked the Public Utility Commission of Texas, in June 2023, for permission to charge its ratepayers higher fees to make up for $153 million in costs it had incurred for repairs and expansion of its local wires. Then it filed for another $56 million that September, plus $81 million the following March. Lawyers representing a coalition of municipal governments pushed back, arguing that Oncor couldn’t ask to pass on its expenses more than twice in a twelve-month period. In response, Oncor said…