YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Mayor Jamael Tito Brown and state Rep. Lauren McNally, D-58th, have requested that the state provide emergency relief to support the delivery of steam heat service to downtown customers of SOBE Thermal Energy LLC, one day after city officials attended a meeting that turned contentious with the company’s receiver.
Brown and McNally drafted letters to Gov. Mike DeWine’s office Thursday, asking the state to take emergency measures to provide adequate heating and hot water service to 27 buildings and 90 residents downtown, citing the approaching cold weather.
“I am requesting that you declare an energy emergency,” McNally wrote in a letter addressed to DeWine. “This is needed to stabilize the system, ensure reliable heat for residents and businesses, and implement a long-term plan for oversight and accountability. Declaring a localized energy emergency would allow for immediate state intervention, and expand the authority and resources Youngstown could pull from in order to correct this crisis.”
Brown also emphasized the need for immediate state intervention in a letter addressed to Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel; state Sen. Al Cutrona, R-33rd; U.S. Rep. Michael Rulli, R-6th; and state Reps. McNally; Tex Fisher, R-59th; Nick Santucci, R-64th; Monica Rob Blasdel, R-79th; and David Thomas, R-65th.
“After a public meeting held yesterday by Reg Martin, receiver for SOBE Thermal Energy, LLC, it is clear that downtown Youngstown residents and businesses are currently under threat of having inadequate heating and hot water services as winter approaches,” Brown’s letter begins.
“Indeed, at present, only a single, underpowered mobile boiler system provides inconsistent steam heat and hot water to downtown Youngstown,” the letter continues. “The lack of adequacy and redundancy in SOBE’s operations, coupled with Mr. Martin’s professed inability to remedy the situation, requires the City to request from you emergency relief.”
Martin on Wednesday hosted an informational gathering at the downtown YMCA to provide an update for SOBE customers. The receiver urged those attending to continue to stay on the system and pay their bills while he works to secure an adequate backup service for the troubled utility.
“This is a complete misrepresentation of what we’re doing and have accomplished,” Martin said Thursday, referring to the two letters. He questioned why the state would declare an emergency when just three customers were impacted during the outage, which extended from Sept. 30 to Oct. 9, when the new boiler was installed.
During the meeting, Martin explained the extraordinary circumstances regarding the situation with SOBE.
Heating service was disconnected Sept. 30 after the utility failed to make payments on a boiler it leased from Chicago-area Wabash Power Equipment Co. A court had ordered in August that the company had the right to repossess the unit.
Martin was appointed by a Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on Sept. 26 as a receiver to manage the business affairs of SOBE Thermal. He said the utility is cash-strapped and brings in approximately $103,000 per month.
SOBE has since secured a mobile boiler unit to replace the one repossessed, and that boiler is now operational despite glitches that caused the system to crash temporarily last week. A single boiler, Martin said during the meeting, is not sufficient to handle the high pressure over the winter.
Martin reported that the company is now working with Youngstown State University’s boiler system to tie into SOBE’s district lines downtown, which would require repairing steam lines along Rayen Avenue. The YSU system could then serve as a long-term backup to the boiler. Absent that, Martin noted he could acquire a second boiler at the site to provide redundancy.
Martin has asked the city for some help so it could excavate the street to repair leaks in the line, which were discovered after SOBE attempted to connect with YSU’s system several weeks ago. He said the city should provide some assistance to help remedy this crisis for its business owners and residents downtown.
However, the city is intransigent over providing any help to SOBE. The city is also a customer of the district heating utility. “After attending Mr. Martin’s public meeting, it is evident that he has no clear plans, sources of funding, or facilities to guarantee that heating and hot water services continue adequately,” Brown wrote.
“The inadequacy and failure of SOBE’s services continues to wreck untold injury and economic harm upon SOBE’s customers and, indeed, upon the infrastructure of the city of Youngstown itself,” the mayor wrote. “Mr. Martin has no time to cajole and bargain for cheap solutions. Nor is it appropriate for him to threaten and strong-arm customers, including the city, into footing the bill.”
Martin was nevertheless adamant that no customers will go without steam heat services through the winter. “There’s no way that service will be discontinued,” he said. Moreover, Martin said he was clear at the meeting about the next steps to establish a backup system.
The mayor and other city officials during the meeting Wednesday engaged in a heated exchange with Martin. Most of the city’s representatives then stormed out of the meeting.