As the saying goes, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Not only do infrastructure assets typically offer lower levels of returns than other kinds of private equity investments, but they are also more often than not assets belonging to markets and sectors prone to becoming the playthings of politicians, especially in election years.

The United Kingdom is now less than a year away from its next general election, and one of the hottest topics for political debate at the moment is the cost of energy and potential solutions for addressing this.

“Politicians of all stripes are making political mileage from criticizing high energy, rail, water and other bills,” says James Marshall, senior associate with Berwin Leighton Paisner. “Enemy number one at present is energy, with the energy regulator expected to call for an in-depth antitrust review, which could ultimately lead to structural changes in the