CH Energy Group Conducts Annual Meeting of Shareholders

(Poughkeepsie, NY)  More than 100 shareholders gathered in Poughkeepsie, New York, today to conduct the 81^st Annual Meeting of CH Energy Group (NYSE: CHG), an energy firm serving approximately 486,000 customers with holdings in 10 states. Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer Steven V. Lant reported on the Company’s 2008 performance, 2009 outlook, strategy and governance before welcoming questions regarding the holding company and its two primary subsidiaries, Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corporation and Central Hudson Enterprises Corporation (CHEC).

            “Our 2008 earnings of $2.22 per share were disappointing when compared to the $2.70 cents we earned per share in the prior year,” Lant told shareholders. “There were three major drags that drove those results: rising uncollectible accounts, reduced energy sales, and weather/storm repair expenses. These items reduced earnings as compared to the prior year by 58 cents.”

            However, Lant listed continued strong liquidity, $78 million in electric and natural gas infrastructure investments, nationally recognized safety performance, and a constructive three-year labor utility labor agreement as several of the positive achievements of 2008.

“It must also be noted that 2008 earnings for our Griffith Energy Services fuel distribution business were up 30 percent over the prior year, despite turbulence in the oil markets,” Lant said, noting that Griffith’s return on equity has more than tripled over the past several years, from approximately 3 percent in 2002 to 10.6 percent in March 31, 2009.  “Free cash flow from unregulated ventures totaled $20 million last year, representing 60 percent of our dividend to shareholders. This is proof that our unregulated ventures are pulling their weight within CH Energy Group.”

            The chairman also told shareholders that the Company’s cumulative return of 27 percent for the 12 months ending March 31, 2009, ranked it third among 58 publicly traded utility industry stocks in the nation.

            As for 2009, Lant told shareholders that major challenges include unprecedented uncertainty in political and economic arenas, as well as the Company’s continued efforts to retain liquidity, make smart investments, and extend Griffith’s profitability. “Also key will be our ability to reach a successful conclusion in the utility rate case now before the New York State Public Service Commission. We need to recalibrate our revenues to cover the actual costs of providing electric and natural gas delivery service. We also need the opportunity to earn a Return on Equity that attracts capital to fund the large infrastructure projects that are necessary to provide safe and reliable service, and allows us to maintain the strong credit rating necessary to access that capital,” Lant outlined.

            An audio recording of Mr. Lant’s remarks can be found in the Investor Relations section of the Company’s web site at www.CHEnergyGroup.com. During the meeting, shareholders re-elected three members to the Board of Directors: Manuel J. Iraola, E. Michel Kruse and Ernest R. Verebelyi. They also voted in favor of hiring an independent audit firm and a recommendation to declassify the Board beginning in 2012.

About CH Energy Group, Inc.

CH Energy Group, Inc. is a family of companies seizing new opportunities in the energy marketplace through two primary subsidiaries: Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corporation is a regulated transmission and distribution utility serving approximately 300,000 electric and about 74,000 natural gas customers in eight counties of New York State’s Mid-Hudson River Valley, and delivering natural gas and electricity in a 2,600-square-mile service territory that extends north from the suburbs of metropolitan New York City to the Capital District at Albany.  Central Hudson Enterprises Corporation, a non-regulated subsidiary, is the umbrella for a family of energy-related companies and investments focused primarily on fuel distribution and renewable energy.  Griffith Energy Service’s fuel distribution business supplies energy products and services to approximately 112,000 customers in 10 states, stretching from Rhode Island to the Washington, D.C. area.  CHEC also has interests in a Lexington, Neb., ethanol plant, two wind power projects, a biomass plant in upstate New York, and is currently developing a landfill-gas energy facility in Auburn, NY.