YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) - Youngstown's mayor says the city simply can't afford to have a local utility shutdown.

"Our priority is for city hall, is the downtown businesses and the residents that are down here. So we want to do everything we can do for the legal aspect," Mayor Tito Brown said.

Lawyers for the city and the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio are asking a Mahoning County judge for some extra time before a West Virginia company can repossess equipment from SOBE Energy.

SOBE had been leasing the machinery from Wabash Power Equipment so it could serve roughly 120 businesses and residential customers, including city hall, with steam heat and chilled water.

Lawyers argue that without that equipment, SOBE would not be able to operate.

"This has been the case with SOBE and what

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