EXHIBIT 99(i)9

FOR RELEASE:  IMMEDIATELY

                                                                  August 8, 2000
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Local News Media:    Central Hudson:          Denise D. VanBuren  (845) 471-8323
Trade, Nat'l Media:  Potomac Communications:  Mimi Limbach        (202) 466-7391
                                                                  (202) 256-3210

       CENTRAL HUDSON AND CO-OWNERS TO SELL FOSSIL-FUEL GENERATING PLANTS
                         TO DYNEGY INC. FOR $903 MILLION

     Central Hudson Gas & Electric  Corporation  today  announced that it, along
with  Consolidated  Edison  Company of New York,  Inc. and Niagara  Mohawk Power
Corporation,  have agreed to sell the Danskammer and Roseton electric generating
plants to Dynegy Inc.  for $903  million.  The plants are located in the Town of
Newburgh,  Orange County, in the State of New York, and have a combined capacity
of 1700 megawatts.

     "We are quite pleased with the sale and will apply Central  Hudson's  share
of the proceeds to benefit our customers and shareholders,"  said Paul J. Ganci,
Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of CH Energy Group,
Inc. [NYSE: CHG], Central Hudson's holding company parent.

     "Customers  will  benefit  in three  ways.  The  gain  from the sale of the
plants,  when combined with other measures we have taken,  will avoid any future
payments by customers, commonly referred to as 'competitive transition charges,'
in order to recover stranded costs.  Secondly, the proceeds will further provide
Central Hudson with the  additional  funds to accelerate our programs to enhance
electric service  reliability - without impacting customer prices.  And, Central
Hudson  customers will benefit from a transition  power  agreement which enables
Central  Hudson to  purchase  varying  amounts  of  electricity  from the plants
through 2004," Ganci said.

            He added that, " To a large measure,  Central  Hudson's success as a
low-cost   generator  was  the  result  of  the  innovation,   commitment,   and
productivity of our employees at the plants, whose employment is protected under
terms of the sale agreement."

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     The proceeds  received  from the sale will also benefit  shareholders.  "It
re-affirms and enhances the Company's  strategy to reinvest and redeploy capital
at an accelerating  pace in the  acquisition of competitive  energy services and
supply businesses in the Northeast," Ganci said.

     Senior  Vice  President  Ronald P.  Brand,  who headed the  Central  Hudson
auction  team,  also  explained  that as a delivery  company,  Central  Hudson's
primary  mission  will  be to  safely  and  reliably  deliver  electricity  that
customers have purchased in the competitive  marketplace.  "The transition power
purchase  agreement  will  enable us to offer  some  element of  electric  price
stability  during a three- to four-year period while those  competitive  markets
mature," he said.

     He noted that the Company  expects  that the gain from the sale will enable
it to maintain delivery wire charges that are among the lowest in the region. At
the same time,  Central  Hudson will - with the  approval of the New York Public
Service   Commission  -  be  investing  to  further  enhance   electric  service
reliability.

     "The sale agreement recognizes the contribution of our 200 employees at the
plants,  and also provides  protection for them," Brand said. Dynegy will retain
all  unionized  employees  and will  assume the  current  collective  bargaining
agreement,  and  will  make  employment  offers  to  most  of the 40  management
employees.  Those individuals not retained by Dynegy will be employed by Central
Hudson.

     John Reed,  Executive  Director with Navigant  Consulting,  Inc., a leading
asset  divestiture  firm  retained  by  Central  Hudson to manage  the  auction,
attributed the successful sale to the  productivity and the actions that Central
Hudson took over the last decade to  consistently  invest in the power plants to
maintain them at the highest level of operational and environmental performance.

            "Central Hudson,  its management team and the employees  deserve the
lion's  share of the credit for the high level of interest  expressed by bidders
and for the  competitive  sales price  offered by the winner,"  said Reed.  "The
final price is the result of sound management and dedicated, committed employees
who operate the plants safely and effectively."

     Central Hudson  estimates that its share of the gross sale proceeds will be
about $695  million,  and that its net  proceeds,  after  taxes and  transaction
costs, will be an estimated $450

<PAGE>


million.  Included in these  proceeds  will be an earned  auction  incentive  of
approximately $18 million,  which Central Hudson, under its arrangement with the
Public  Service  Commission,  will be  entitled to retain for the benefit of its
shareholders.

     According  to Senior  Vice  President  Arthur R.  Upright,  the sale of the
plants will  require  the  approval of the Public  Service  Commission.  Central
Hudson  expects to file promptly for that approval and will propose to establish
a  balanced  and  fair   distribution  to  provide  benefits  to  customers  and
shareholders.  Portions of the transaction  will also require  approval from the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Federal Trade Commission.

     The sale will be made to comply with the Public Service  Commission's  1996
and 1998 Orders to deregulate the electric  utility  industry in New York State.
The  Commission  required  Central  Hudson to sell, at auction,  its fossil fuel
plants by July 2001. The sale is being made as a result of a competitive auction
process and is subject to  regulatory  approval.  It is expected to close within
four to six months.

     Navigant  Consulting,  Inc. served as financial advisor on the transaction.
Legal counsel was provided by Dickstein, Shapiro, Morin & Oshinsky, and the firm
of Gould and Wilkie.

ABOUT DANSKAMMER AND ROSETON:

     The Danskammer plant consists of four generating units, constructed between
1951 and 1967, with a total generating capacity of 500 megawatts;  Units 1 and 2
burn fuel oil and natural gas,  while Units 3 and 4 burn coal and natural gas to
produce  electricity.  In  addition,  the site  contains 5  megawatts  of diesel
generators  for use in  restarting  the main units.  The two  identical  Roseton
units,  which went on line in 1974, have a combined  capacity of 1,200 megawatts
and produce  electricity  from burning fuel oil or natural gas.  Central  Hudson
currently  owns 35 percent of the Roseton  facility,  while Niagara Mohawk Power
Corporation  and  Consolidated  Edison  Company of New York,  Inc. own 25 and 40
percent, respectively.

<PAGE>

ABOUT CENTRAL HUDSON:

     Central Hudson Gas & Electric  Corporation is a combination natural gas and
electric  utility  serving a  population  of  approximately  623,000  in a 2,600
square-mile area of the Mid-Hudson Valley, stretching from 25 miles north of New
York City to 10 miles south of Albany.  Central  Hudson  serves parts of Albany,
Columbia,  Dutchess, Greene, Orange, Putnam, Sullivan and Ulster counties. It is
a subsidiary  of CH Energy  Group,  a family of energy  generation  and services
companies with holdings throughout the Northeast.

ABOUT DYNEGY INC.:

     Dynegy Inc. [NYSE:  DYN] is one of the country's  leading energy merchants.
Through  its  leadership   position  in  energy  marketing,   power  generation,
transportation,  gathering and processing, the company provides energy solutions
to its customers primarily in North America, the United Kingdom and Europe.

                                      # # #

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ARE INTENDED TO BE, AND ARE HEREBY IDENTIFIED AS,  "FORWARD-LOOKING  STATEMENTS"
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