With Democrats preparing to take control of Congress, the growing dispute over who pays for AI infrastructure could pose another regulatory risk for Big Tech companies, including Alphabet Inc. ‘s (NASDAQ) (NASDAQ) Google and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ) .

Google pledged to cover infrastructure costs directly resulting from its expansion, while Microsoft promised to fund the power infrastructure needed to serve its facilities.

“Microsoft and Google pledges to cover their own power costs failed to sway congressional Democrats,” Chris Gannatti , U.S. CIO of WisdomTree , told Benzinga in an email.

The dispute extends beyond electricity consumed by data centers to the cost of building power plants, transmission lines and grid upgrades. Utilities can pass those expenses on to households.

Three Democratic senators are investigating the impact of data centers operated by Google, Microsoft, Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ) and Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ) on consumer electricity bills.…