Miliband's energy price cap hits Centrica and SSE shares Analysts warned earlier this year that investors in energy companies faced increased risks of political interference. Writing in The Daily Telegraph in May, Peter Atherton, a utilities analyst at Liberum Capital, said: "Political risk is bound to rise sharply in Britain's energy industry as the inherent implausibility and contradictory nature of the policy goals are exposed. There is a real risk that the government of the day could be tempted to directly intervene in energy prices or utilities' profits - with obvious consequences for shareholders. Rising energy bills for consumers or profits for the energy companies could become politically unacceptable, forcing the Government to renege on its policy commitments to the industry, such as minimum prices or investment returns. Mr Atherton said the Government's existing level of involvement in decisions about the location and type of new power stations amounted to "the effective renationalisation of the investment decision process in the power sector." He said today: "The market will now be pricing shares in Centrica and SSE on the basis of Labour's standing in the opinion polls. If it looks like Mr Miliband is heading for victory, the shares will suffer. This move raises all sorts of questions for investors in the energy sector - all of them negative. Liberum is not changing its recommendations on the stocks yet as the price cap is only a proposal. But Mr Atherton said the legality of such a cap was "highly questionable." Regular news and tips for investors: bookmark telegraph.co.uk/investing