Youngstown Thermal has a deal in place to sell

By DAVID SKOLNICK

skolnick@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Youngstown Thermal, a steam utility company that is supposed to provide heating and air cooling services to about 40 downtown customers, could be sold for $250,000.

The agreement was signed April 19 with SOBE Energy Solutions of Dublin, according to documents obtained by The Vindicator.

The documents states Reg Martin, Youngstown Thermal’s receiver, “reports that the sale price is believed to be the highest and best price to be had in the foreseeable future.”

The deal won’t be finalized until Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court approves it.

Judge Krichbaum said his magistrate, Timothy G. Welsh, received a copy of it Friday of the agreement.

“It won’t be approved until notice is given and all the necessary steps are taken to give time to people who want to object,” Judge Krichbaum said. “The parties have agreed in principle, but it’s subject to approval. It will take time, but not a great deal of time” to approve it.

The documents state Martin “urges the court to approve the present sale due to the exigent circumstances involved, specifically, that there is a significant risk that, if not sold presently, the property may decrease in value due to current market conditions and administrative expenses will increase thereby diminishing the value to creditors.”

The utility owns four parcels on North and Belmont avenues in Youngstown.

Attempts Friday by The Vindicator to reach Martin and Stephen E. Hubbard, SOBE’s CEO, were unsuccessful.

SOBE’s website states the company provides “power generation through the use of its unique waste-to-energy conversion technology. The waste being converted during the technology process is to a clean synthetic fuel gas that can be used directly in burners for process heating or in gas turbines or reciprocating engines for electricity generation.”

Martin was appointed receiver in August 2017 after the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio was informed by Youngstown Thermal’s then-CEO Carl Avers that the business was in a financial struggle that could have caused an energy crisis in downtown. The company couldn’t ensure adequate service to its customers and was in danger of insolvency when the PUCO stepped in.

Martin was able to stabilize the company’s finances, but has said a receiver isn’t a permanent solution.

Martin tried in August 2018 to convince the city, a thermal customer, to take over the utility company, but Youngstown officials said they wouldn’t do it.

Matt Schilling, PUCO spokesman, said his agency hasn’t seen the documents as of Friday.

“We’d expect them to make regulatory filings with the PUCO, but I don’t know the timing of that,” he said.

Meanwhile, the utility once again is struggling to keep three downtown business cool.

Youngstown Thermal provides cooling services to The Vindicator, Home Savings Bank and the Youngstown Business Incubator. For at least the fourth year in a row, the service is down.

Kathy Bushway, Home Savings’ director of marketing, said the utility company’s main chiller is down and a smaller chiller is being used.

There was a rupture in the chiller line that left the three businesses without cooling services for about two weeks in June 2018.

“We’re hoping to get this fixed before we get too many hot days this year. We’re keeping people as cool as we can with fans. It’s been warm the last few days, but not as bad as last summer,” Bushway said. Last year, Home Savings and the two other businesses had to bring in portable air conditioning units during the problem.

“We’re looking forward to them coming up with a long-term operating plan that provides adequate service,” Bushway said.

Barb Ewing, CEO of the business incubator, said: “While we’re hopeful that a new ownership structure will bring the resources needed to resolve these issues, in the near term, we need to get the situation resolved. The reality is that not being able to provide a comfortable working environment impacts our companies and their employees.”