Last year, Robert Chisholm, portfolio manager of Center Coast MLP Focus (CCCAX), told us MLPs would be major beneficiaries of the $150 billion to $250 billion being invested in US energy infrastructure during the coming decade, and recommended two MLPs in particular.

Kinder Morgan Management (NYSE: KMR) is up 24 percent since then, and sports a recent yield of 7 percent.

KMR manages and controls the Kinder Morgan suite of businesses— four publicly traded energy companies comprising Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE: KMI). In a blockbuster deal worth $21.1 billion, Kinder Morgan, Inc. increased its total capitalization to about $100 billion when it acquired El Paso Pipeline Partners in 2011. The acquisition expanded the MLP’s natural gas pipeline infrastructure to all major natural gas development areas, boosting its growth potential.

Because KMR’s payout is in stock rather than cash, shares of KMR currently sell at $77.53, a discount to Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (NYSE: KMP), which recently traded at $85.50.

TC Pipelines (NYSE: TCP) has returned 10.4 percent since last year, and recently yielded 6.7 percent.

In 2011, TCP acquired 25 percent of Gas Transmission Northwest and Bison Pipeline for $605 million, expanding its asset base by 26 percent to $2.1 billion and adding a solid foundation for future cash distributions. The acquisition added 1,656 miles of natural gas pipeline and 3.3 billion cubic feet per day in pipeline capacity.

For 2011, TCP’s distributable cash flow increased 23 percent, to $222 million. TCP earns about 30 percent more than it pays out in distributions.