YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Steam and hot water service to 28 customers of SOBE Thermal Energy LLC in the city’s central business district has been disrupted as a result of a broken component on the new boiler system, a company official said.

Reg Martin, the court-appointed receiver for SOBE, told The Business Journal on Friday morning that the new boiler would need a new breaker part. That component is on order and is scheduled to be overnighted and replaced Saturday.

Meanwhile, the company is working to secure a local vendor to replace the component sooner, Martin said. Also, the company is moving forward with efforts to secure a new backup system for SOBE’s operations at its site on North Avenue.

Service was temporarily knocked out Thursday when a valve lost pressure and triggered a shut down of the system. Service was restored approximately an hour and a half later.

SOBE has scheduled a meeting at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Youngstown YMCA’s Manchester Room to inform customers of the district heating company’s future plans. 

Martin on Thursday sent out a letter to all of SOBE’s 28 customers, urging them to continue using the downtown heating system’s lines. 

“It is critical that each of the twenty-eight customers/companies continue as customers in the system, as any disruption in our customer base would likely cause financial hardship and further interruption of service,” Martin’s letter states. “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.”

SOBE Thermal’s boiler at its North Avenue site was repossessed Sept. 30 after the company failed to make payments per its lease agreement on the system. In August, a Mahoning County Common Pleas Court sided with Wabash Power Equipment Co. and approved its right to repossess the unit.

Martin was appointed receiver by the court Sept. 26 after the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio determined that SOBE could no longer provide services to its downtown customers.

Customers were left without steam heat for more than a week before a new boiler was secured and installed at the site. Service resumed Oct. 8, after a new mobile boiler was delivered to the site over the previous weekend.

Pictured at top: The mobile boiler that was delivered to SOBE’s North Avenue plant last week.