YOUNGSTOWN — Reg Martin, who took control of SOBE Thermal Energy Systems LLC when the company was on the brink of being unable to provide utility services to much of downtown Youngstown, will meet with customers to explain the ongoing situation and plans for the future.

The meeting will be 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Central YMCA’s Manchester Room, 17 Champion St. The YMCA is one of SOBE’s customers.

In a Thursday letter to SOBE customers, Martin wrote the purpose of the meeting is “to explain this situation in further detail, advise of our plans for the future and answer any questions.”

He added: “We strongly recommend your attendance and that of any other business that would give consideration to being served going forward by a reliable steam heat system on a competitive pricing schedule.”

With SOBE in imminent danger of not being able to provide heating, cooling and hot water services because its rented mobile steam plant was to be repossessed, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio intervened with Judge Anthony Donofrio of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court agreeing Sept. 26 to appoint Martin as receiver of the failing company.

SOBE provided utility services to its 27 downtown customers through a rented mobile steam plant from Wabash Power Equipment Co. of Wheeling, Illinois. Wabash repossessed the 800-horsepower boiler Sept. 30 after winning federal and Mahoning court orders that SOBE owed $383,214 in back payments.

Martin, the PUCO and the city of Youngstown — one of SOBE’s main customers — searched for a replacement for the Wabash boiler.

The first option was to ask Youngstown State University to use its boiler system through an old piping system. But that effort failed Oct. 1 because leaks were found in the system, which hadn’t been used in more than nine years.

A 650-horsepower boiler rented from Power Mechanical Inc. of Newport News, Virginia, was shipped Oct. 4 to Youngstown and arrived the next day, with assembly beginning then.

The boiler didn’t start operating until Oct. 9 because of various issues.

Martin told customers that he “sincerely apologize(d) for the difficulties caused to you by the lack of service.”

A city waterline outside the SOBE facility, 205 North Ave., broke Oct. 8 and wasn’t fixed until the next day. Before that, there were issues trying to fit the new boiler into where the previous boiler was located, at least one leak in the boiler had to be repaired and about 40 feet of PVC pipes had to be connected to the building from the new steam plant.

The Power Mechanical boiler costs $19,750 a month to rent, Martin said. In comparison, the larger Wabash boiler costs $19,500 for SOBE to rent based on a 2019 agreement.

Martin said an 800-horsepower boiler would typically cost about $30,000 to $35,000 a month, but he could probably get one for about $27,000. The issue, Martin said, is they are difficult to find at the moment.

With the need for more steam heat required from mid-December to the end of March, other options need to be considered, Martin said. That could be a larger 800-horsepower boiler; a 250-horsepower boiler, which would cost about $12,000 a month, to be used with the existing rental; or possibly something else, Martin said. Martin said nothing is off the table.

In his letter to SOBE customers, Martin wrote that it is “critical” they “continue as customers in the system as any disruption in our customer base would likely cause financial hardship and further interruption of service. Be advised that as steam continues to be provided from our current boiler, we are also working to engage a reliable backup support system in an effort to avoid any future disruption of service.”

Those who were without steam between Sept. 30 and Oct. 9 will see an adjustment in their bills, Martin wrote.

Martin also served as receiver from 2017 to 2019 when the downtown utility, then operated by Youngstown Thermal LLC, financially failed.

Martin, of the Columbus area, was named to run Youngstown Thermal after PUCO was informed by the company’s CEO that the business was financially failing, which could have caused an energy crisis downtown.

YSU used to be the largest customer for utility services from Youngstown Thermal until it left in 2016.

By 2017, Youngstown Thermal, which had numerous problems for years, could no longer ensure adequate service to its customers and was in danger of insolvency when PUCO stepped in and appointed Martin.

When Martin was Youngstown Thermal’s receiver, PUCO granted him permission for an additional surcharge on customers.

Martin was the receiver for two years before he worked out a deal with SOBE, based in Dublin, Ohio, to manage the facility in 2019. SOBE purchased the assets for $250,000 in November 2021.

But SOBE subsequently experienced a number of financial problems and could no longer effectively provide utility services to its customers.

Since Sept. 26, Martin has run the company’s day-to-day operations.

SOBE wanted to convert rubber tire chips into synthetic gas at its Youngstown facility. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency granted a permit Feb. 14, 2024, to permit SOBE to move ahead with that plan, with the city filing an appeal March 15, 2024.

That plan appears to be dead with SOBE’s former law firm withdrawing from an Ohio Environmental Review Appeals Commission case, almost certainly because SOBE could no longer pay the legal fees.

The permit is good for 10 years.

SOBE Concerned Citizens, a group opposed to the plan to burn rubber tire chips, asked the EPA director to rescind the permit because it is “considered an asset that may be sold as part of the receivership proceedings. This creates an unacceptable risk that the permit could be transferred to another operator without proper review or public input.”

City council on Nov. 20, 2024, approved a second one-year moratorium on the process SOBE planned to use at its plant. Council members say the process is dangerous, untested and harmful to the environment. They also said they don’t plan to ever lift the moratorium that was initially passed Dec. 20, 2023.

Youngstown council’s next meeting is scheduled for Nov. 19.

Youngstown Thermal is the oldest district heating and cooling system in the country, having begun operations in 1895. It was designed to generate and distribute steam to heat downtown businesses using coal as its main source of fuel.