As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 12, 2006 REGISTRATION NO. 333- - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549 FORM S-8 REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933 CH ENERGY GROUP, INC. (Exact name of Company as specified in its charter) NEW YORK 14-1804460 (State or other jurisdiction of (I.R.S. Employer incorporation or organization) Identification No.) 284 South Avenue Poughkeepsie, New York 12601-4879 (Address of principal executive offices) CH ENERGY GROUP, INC. LONG-TERM EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN (Full title of plan) ------------------ LINCOLN E. BLEVEANS CORPORATE SECRETARY CH ENERGY GROUP, INC. 284 SOUTH AVENUE POUGHKEEPSIE, NEW YORK 12601-4879 (845) 452-2000 (Name and address of agent for service) Copies to: EILEEN MCCARTHY, ESQ. THOMPSON HINE LLP 335 MADISON AVENUE, 12fl FL. NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10017-4611 (212) 344-5680 (Telephone number, including area code, of agent for service) ------------------ CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE Proposed Title of Proposed maximum Amount of securities Amount to be maximum aggregate registration to be registered registered offer price offering price fee Common Stock ($.10 par value) 300,000(1) $ 46.16(2) $13,848,000(1) $1,481.74(2) (1) The number of shares of Common Stock registered herein is subject to adjustment to prevent dilution resulting from stock splits, stock dividends or similar transactions. (2) Pursuant to Rule 457(h), based upon the average of the high and low price of the Registrant's Common Stock reported on the New York Stock Exchange on June 8, 2006. In addition, pursuant to Rule 416(c) under the Securities Act of 1933, this registration statement also covers an indeterminate amount of interests to be offered or sold pursuant to the employee benefit plan described herein. PART I INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE SECTION 10(a) PROSPECTUS This Registration Statement on Form S-8 is being filed by CH Energy Group, Inc. (the "Registrant" or the "Corporation") with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") for the purpose of registering under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), (i) 300,000 shares of Common Stock, par value $.10 per share, of the Corporation ("Common Stock") for issuance pursuant to the Corporation's Long-Term Equity Incentive Plan (the "Plan") and (ii) an indeterminate amount of interests to be offered or sold pursuant to the Plan. The document(s) containing the information concerning the Plan specified in Part I of the instructions to Registration Statement on Form S-8 have been or will be sent or given to the Participants in the Plan, as specified by Rule 424(b)(1) under the Securities Act. In accordance with the Note to Part I of the instructions to Registration Statement on Form S-8, such documents are not filed with the SEC either as part of this Registration Statement or as a prospectus or prospectus supplement pursuant to Rule 424 under the Securities Act. These documents and the documents incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement pursuant to Item 3 of Part II hereof, taken together, constitute a prospectus that meets the requirements of Section 10(a) of the Securities Act. PART II INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT ITEM 3. INCORPORATION OF CERTAIN DOCUMENTS BY REFERENCE The following documents filed by the Corporation with the SEC pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), are hereby incorporated by reference into this Registration Statement and made a part of this Registration Statement: 1. The Corporation's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005. 2. The Corporation's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2006. 3. The Corporation's Current Reports on Form 8-K, and amendments thereto, filed on June 1, 2006, April 28, 2006, April 24, 2006, April 13, 2006, April 6, 2006, March 13, 2006, February 16, 2006, February 13, 2006, February 8, 2006 and January 3, 2006. 4. The description of the Corporation's Common Stock contained under the caption "The Share Exchange--Holding Company Capital Stock" in the Proxy Statement and Prospectus included in Amendment No. 1 to the Corporation's Registration Statement on Form S-4 (No. 333-52797), which was declared effective July 28, 1998. In addition to the foregoing, all documents subsequently filed by the Corporation pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act, prior to the filing of a post-effective amendment which indicates that all securities offered have been sold or which deregisters all securities then remaining unsold, shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement and to be a part hereof from the date of the filing of such documents. Any statement contained herein or in a document incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference herein shall be deemed to be modified or superseded for purposes hereof to the extent that a statement contained herein or in any subsequently filed document which is also incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference herein modifies or supersedes such statement. Any such statement so modified or superseded shall not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to constitute a part of this Registration Statement. ITEM 5. INTERESTS OF NAMED EXPERTS AND COUNSEL The legality of the Corporation's Common Stock to be issued under the Plan will be passed upon for the Corporation by Thompson Hine LLP. ITEM 6. INDEMNIFICATION OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS Sections 721 through 726 of the Business Corporation Law of the State of New York ("BCL") provide for indemnification of the Corporation's officers and directors under certain conditions and subject to specific limitations. The BCL permits New York corporations to supplement the statutory indemnification with additional "non-statutory" indemnification for directors and officers meeting a specified standard of conduct and to advance to officers and directors litigation expenses under certain circumstances. As permitted by the BCL, Article VI of the Corporation's By-Laws provides for indemnification of, and advancement of litigation expenses incurred by, directors and officers of the Corporation. The Corporation has also obtained insurance providing for indemnification of directors and officers against certain expenses and liabilities, subject to certain retention and co-insurance provisions. In addition, the Corporation has entered into agreements with certain of the officers and directors of the Corporation providing for indemnification for the liability of officers and directors of the Corporation in excess of losses indemnified under the Corporation's By-Laws, said insurance policies and/or the BCL plus $1,000. Such indemnification agreements do not cover acts committed in bad faith or acts which were the result of active and deliberate dishonesty or judgments rendered pursuant to Section 16(b) of the Exchange Act. Furthermore, Article 6 of the Restated Certificate of Incorporation of the Corporation limits, with certain exceptions, the personal liability of a director of the Corporation to the Corporation or its shareholders for damage for any breach of duty in such capacity to the fullest extent permitted by the BCL. ITEM 8. LIST OF EXHIBITS See Exhibit Index. ITEM 9. UNDERTAKINGS A. UNDERTAKING TO UPDATE ANNUALLY The Corporation hereby undertakes: (1) to file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made of the securities registered hereby, a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement: (i) to include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act; (ii) to reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective date of this Registration Statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information in this Registration Statement; (iii) to include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in this Registration Statement or any material change to such information in this Registration Statement; provided, however, that the undertakings set forth in paragraphs (i) and (ii) do not apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in periodic reports filed with or furnished to the SEC by the Corporation pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act that are incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement; (2) that, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof; and (3) to remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the offering. B. INCORPORATING SUBSEQUENT EXCHANGE ACT DOCUMENTS BY REFERENCE The Corporation hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the Corporation's annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan's annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof. C. INDEMNIFICATION Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the Corporation pursuant to the provisions of the Corporation's By-Laws, the BCL or otherwise, the Corporation has been advised that in the opinion of the SEC such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the Corporation of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the Corporation in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the Corporation will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue. SIGNATURES Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the Corporation certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Poughkeepsie, State of New York, on the 12th day of June, 2006. CH ENERGY GROUP, INC. By:/s/ Donna S. Doyle ------------------ Name: Donna S. Doyle Title: Vice President--Accounting and Controller Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this Registration Statement has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities and on the date indicated. Signature Title Date (a) Principal Executive Officer Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive June 12, 2006 Officer and President /s/ STEVEN V. LANT - ------------------ (Steven V. Lant) (b) Principal Financial Officer Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer June 12, 2006 /s/ CHRISTOPHER M. CAPONE - ------------------------- (Christopher M. Capone) (c) Principal Accounting Officer: Vice President -Accounting and Controller June 12, 2006 /s/ DONNA S. DOYLE - ------------------ (Donna S. Doyle) (d) A majority of Directors: June 12, 2006 Margarita K. Dilley*; Steven M. Fetter*; Edward F.X. Gallagher*; Stanley J. Grubel*; Manuel J. Iraola; E. Michael Kruse*; Steven V. Lant*; Jeffrey D. Tranen*; Ernest R. Verebelyi, * Directors By: /s/ DONNA S. DOYLE ------------------ (Donna S. Doyle by power of attorney) * Donna S. Doyle, by signing her name hereto, does thereby sign this document for herself and on behalf of the persons named above after whose printed name an asterisk appears, pursuant to powers of attorney duly executed by such persons and filed with the SEC as Exhibit 24 hereof. EXHIBIT INDEX Following is the list of Exhibits, as required by Item 601 of Regulation S-K, filed as part of this Registration Statement on Form S-8: Exhibit No. Regulation S-K Item 601 Designation Exhibit Description 3(a) Restated Certificate of Incorporation of CH Energy Group, Inc. under Section 807 of the Business Corporation Law, previously filed with the Commission as Exhibit 3(i) to the Registrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 1998 (File No.333-52797) and incorporated herein by reference. 3(b) By-laws of CH Energy Group, Inc., previously filed with the Commission as Exhibit 99 to the Registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K of CH Energy Group, Inc. filed on February 16, 2006 (File No. 333-52797) and incorporated herein by reference. 5 Opinion of Thompson Hine LLP with respect to the legality of the Common Stock registered hereunder. 10.1 CH Energy Group, Inc. Long-Term Equity Incentive Plan, previously filed with the Commission as Appendix A to the Registrant's definitive proxy statement on March 10, 2006 (File No. 333-52797), for the Annual Meeting held on April 25, 2006 and incorporated herein by reference. 10.2 Form of Performance Shares Agreement under the CH Energy Group, Inc. Long-Term Equity Incentive Plan, previously filed with the Commission as Exhibit 10(iii)(43) to the Registrant's Form 8-K filed on April 28, 2006 (File No. 333-52797) and incorporated herein by reference. 23(a) Consent of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP 23(b) Consent of Thompson Hine LLP (included in the opinion filed as Exhibit No. 5) 24 Powers of Attorney