YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The receiver managing the affairs of troubled district heating company SOBE Thermal Energy LLC has agreed to resign, and a replacement is under consideration, according to documents filed with the Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio filed a motion Wednesday evening requesting that the court remove Reg Martin of Columbus as receiver and appoint John C. Collins, a Youngstown native and attorney now based in Akron, as his replacement.
“Mr. Martin has agreed to resign and be replaced with a receiver who resides more locally and who can be present on site more frequently,” court papers say. “It is undisputed that SOBE continues to be in imminent danger of insolvency and that a receiver should be appointed to manage SOBE’s affairs,” the motion says.
The motion is unopposed and likely to be approved by the court.
According to court documents, Collins has “extensive experience in receivership matters.” PUCO’s motion also requests that the court order Martin to transfer all receivership assets and authorize him, the receiver’s counsel and SOBE employees to recover fees and costs incurred to date. The motion also requests the court absolve Martin of any liabilities or risk in the matter.
Martin was appointed receiver for SOBE on Sept. 26, just days after the PUCO determined that the district steam heating company was at risk of insolvency. The company provides steam heat to approximately 28 customers downtown, including City Hall.
Martin has come under fire from customers downtown who have complained about how the company has been managed and the lack of steam heat service to buildings in the central business district.
The situation became more acute after a deep freeze gripped the Mahoning Valley last month, forcing several businesses to shut down because of lack of heat.
On Monday, two mobile boilers at SOBE’s site failed over the weekend, and customers this week complained about the lack of heat. Some of these customers sent letters to the PUCO requesting it replace Martin as receiver.
The city of Youngstown last week filed a motion in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to intervene in the case. The court has yet to rule on the matter.
“The recent total and complete failure of SOBE to provide heat to City Hall and other downtown buildings for six days represents a profound change in circumstance that can no longer allow the city to remain idle, particularly when the public health is at stake,” the complaint says.
State Rep. Lauren McNally, D-Youngstown, said in a statement Thursday that the combined voice of downtown stakeholders — after months of raising issues in Columbus about the beleaguered utility — finally caught the state’s attention.
“I am disgusted by the way we have been treated in this crisis,” McNally said. “The customers of SOBE have gone without reliable heat since September. Over the past six months, they have endured mismanagement, threats, loss of revenue, stonewalling, and a winter with 48 inches of snow and multiple below 0-degree days,” she said.
“But thanks to the continued advocacy, coordination, and fight among business owners and my office, we finally got the PUCO and the state to start listening to what we need,” McNally continued. “I am ready to work closely with a new receiver and finally get downtown Youngstown back to normal.”
SOBE’s troubles began during the summer, when Wabash Power Equipment Co., Chicago, filed a motion in court to repossess an 800-horsepower boiler at the company’s site on North Avenue after SOBE failed to make its scheduled lease payments. The court approved the motion in August.
The company, then operated by David Ferro, had plans to convert the operation into a plant that used recycled tire chips for fuel. The plan met with opposition from citizens and then Mayor Jamael Tito Brown’s administration because of environmental concerns and never moved forward.
By then, SOBE had removed much of the old boiler infrastructure at the site and opted to lease an 800-horsepower mobile boiler from Wabash while it attempted to develop the recycled fuel plant. However, SOBE fell behind on its lease payments and Wabash disconnected the boiler Sept. 30., leaving its customers without heat or hot water service.
The operation is currently being served by three mobile boilers with 800-, 650- and 200-horsepower capacity. The 800-horsepower and 650-horsepower boilers failed over the weekend, triggering the latest round of problems.
Pictured at top: Reg Martin, the receiver for SOBE Thermal Systems, speaks during a meeting at the YMCA in Youngstown in October 2025.