<PAGE>
 
                                 UNITED STATES
                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             Washington, DC  20549


                                  FORM 10-K/A
                                Amendment No. 1
                                        

[X]  ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE
     SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

     For the Fiscal Year Ended   December 31, 1997
                               ---------------------

[_]  TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE
     SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

     For The Transition Period From __________ to __________

                            Commission File Number
                            ----------------------
                                    1-10290

                                   DQE, Inc.
           --------------------------------------------------------
            (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

              Pennsylvania                             25-1598483
              ------------                             ----------
    (State or other jurisdiction of       (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)
     incorporation or organization)

                    Cherrington Corporate Center, Suite 100
         500 Cherrington Parkway, Coraopolis, Pennsylvania  15108-3184
         -------------------------------------------------------------
              (Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)

     Registrant's telephone number, including area code:   (412) 262-4700


Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required
to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during
the preceding 12 months and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for
the past 90 days.   Yes   X      No 
                         ---        ---   

Aggregate market value of DQE Common Stock held by non-affiliates as of February
28, 1998 was $2,565,653,110.  There were 77,685,287 shares of DQE Common Stock
outstanding as of February 28, 1998.

     [X]  Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to
          Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be
          contained, to the best of the registrant's knowledge, in definitive
          proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III
          of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.
<PAGE>
 
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:


                                                Name of each exchange
Registrant          Title of each class          on which registered
----------          -------------------          -------------------

   DQE           Common Stock (no par value)    New York Stock Exchange
                                                Philadelphia Stock Exchange
                                                Chicago Stock Exchange

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

Registrant          Title of each class
-------------       -------------------

   DQE           Preferred Stock, Series A (Convertible)


                      DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

                                                      Part of Form 10-K
                                                     Into Which Document
Description                                            Is Incorporated
-----------                                          ---------------------

DQE Annual Report to Shareholders                       Parts I and II
for the year ended December 31, 1997

                                       2
<PAGE>
 
The Report of Independent Certified Public Accountants on page 21 of
registrant's Form 10-K for the Fiscal Year ended December 31, 1997 is hereby
amended in its entirety to read as follows:



               REPORT OF INDEPENDENT CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS
                                        

  To the Directors and Shareholders of DQE, Inc.:

  We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheet of DQE, Inc. and
  its subsidiaries as of December 31, 1997 and 1996, and the related
  consolidated statements of income, retained earnings, and cash flows for each
  of the three years in the period ended December 31, 1997.  Our audits also
  included the financial statement schedule listed in the Index at Item 14.
  These financial statements and financial statement schedule are the
  responsibility of the Company's management.  Our responsibility is to express
  an opinion on the financial statements and financial statement schedule based
  on our audits.

  We conducted our audits in accordance with generally accepted auditing
  standards.  Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to
  obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of
  material misstatement.  An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence
  supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements.  An audit
  also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant
  estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial
  statement presentation.  We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis
  for our opinion.

  In our opinion, such consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all
  material respects, the financial position of DQE, Inc. and its subsidiaries as
  of December 31, 1997 and 1996, and the results of their operations and their
  cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 1997
  in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles.  Also, in our
  opinion, such financial statement schedule, when considered in relation to the
  basic consolidated financial statements taken as a whole, presents fairly in
  all material respects the information set forth therein.


  /s/ Deloitte & Touche LLP
  Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  January 27, 1998

                                       3
<PAGE>
 
                                   SIGNATURE
                                        


      Pursuant to the requirements of  Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on
its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.



                                                      DQE, Inc.
                                                  -------------------
                                                     (Registrant)

Date    March 25, 1998                      By:  /s/ Morgan K. O'Brien
     --------------------                      ---------------------------------
                                                         (Signature)
                                                      Morgan K. O'Brien
                                                Vice President and Controller
                                                (Principal Accounting Officer)

                                       4