CH Energy Group Subsidiary Acquires Two Heating and Fuel Oil Distributorships.

Business Editors

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 19, 2003

With the recent acquisition of two established energy firms, Central Hudson Enterprises Corporation, or CHEC - the competitive energy services branch of CH Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:CHG) - now serves more than 80,000 homes and businesses throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic region.

The acquired firms are located in Maryland and Virginia, and together supply a range of products and services that includes heating oil and motor fuels, as well as natural gas and heat pump equipment installations.

"These two acquired companies, which together serve more than 8,000 customers, will fit in well with Griffith Energy Services, our Washington, D.C.-based fuel distribution subsidiary. They emphasize quality service, and we expect them to contribute to our strategy of profitable growth through acquisitions in our market area," said Steven V. Lant, President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer of CHEC. "We expect to realize both operational and marketing synergies through these acquisitions. The new customer base also gives us the potential to cross sell other energy products and services in the region, and we anticipate the firms will make immediate contributions to earnings."

The two companies, which will operate within the 10,000-square-mile territory of CHEC subsidiary Griffith Energy Services (based in Cheverly, Maryland), are:

Cook's Fuel and Energy Services, of Baltimore, Maryland, which serves approximately 4,300 heating oil and an additional 1,500 heating and cooling equipment accounts in Baltimore and its surrounding counties; and

MIFCO, of Manassas and Woodbridge, Virginia, which has approximately 2,200 residential heating oil accounts, and supplies motor fuel to commercial accounts, in the northern Virginia area.

Through its various subsidiaries, CHEC serves customers in 11 states with heating oil, motor fuels, natural gas and propane, in addition to value-added energy services. CHEC is a subsidiary of CH Energy Group, Inc., which also includes Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corporation, a regulated electric and natural gas utility serving approximately 625,000 people in a 2,600-square-mile service territory in the Mid-Hudson Valley Region of New York state.