CERTIFICATIONS

                                                    Exhibit 31.1

I, Steven V. Lant, certify that:

      I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of CH Energy Group, Inc.
and Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corporation (collectively the "Registrants");

      Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement
of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the
statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were
made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

      Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the
financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the Registrants as
of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

      The Registrants' other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible for
establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in
Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial
reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the
Registrants and have:

            a)    Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused
                  such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under
                  our supervision, to ensure that material information relating
                  to the Registrants, including their consolidated subsidiaries,
                  is made known to us by others within those entities,
                  particularly during the period in which this report is being
                  prepared;

            b)    Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or
                  caused such internal control over financial reporting to be
                  designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable
                  assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and
                  the preparation of financial statements for external purposes
                  in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;

            c)    Evaluated the effectiveness of the Registrants' disclosure
                  controls and procedures and presented in this report our
                  conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls
                  and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this
                  report based on such evaluation; and

            d)    Disclosed in this report any change in the Registrants'
                  internal control over financial reporting that occurred during
                  the Registrants' most recent fiscal quarter (the Registrants'
                  fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that
                  has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially
                  affect, the Registrants' internal control over financial
                  reporting; and

      The Registrants' other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed, based
on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to
the Registrants' auditors and the audit committee of the Registrants' boards of
directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

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            a)    All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the
                  design or operation of internal control over financial
                  reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the
                  Registrants' ability to record, process, summarize and report
                  financial information; and

            b)    Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management
                  or other employees who have a significant role in the
                  Registrants' internal control over financial reporting.

Date: February 11, 2005


                                              /s/ Steven V. Lant
                               -------------------------------------------------
                                                Steven V. Lant
                                     Chairman of the Board, President and
                                            Chief Executive Officer
                                           of CH Energy Group, Inc.


                                              /s/ Steven V. Lant
                               -------------------------------------------------
                                                Steven V. Lant
                               Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
                                 of Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corporation