Washington’s power customers are closer to seeing reductions in their electric rates, possibly implemented by this fall.

The City Council, during its meeting Monday, adopted a resolution authorizing agreements that should bring about those rate declines.

“I’ve been dealing with city boards and commissions, I guess, for over 30 years. This vote is the most important, single vote that I have made in all those years,” said Councilman Doug Mercer, who has represented the city at North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency meetings in recent years. “It gives the City of Washington and the other 32 towns that are associated with the power agency an opportunity to substantially reduce the debt which will, ultimately reduce the cost to our customers.”

Mercer urged the other council members to vote for the resolution, saying it is a deal the city cannot afford to pass up. Mercer then made the motion for the council to approve the resolution.

“I’d like recognize the city manager and the director of public electric utilities and Doug Mercer for working due diligence on this specific program. It’s been a long two-year process. They had to coordinate a lot of stuff, and I think they ought to be commended for their efforts on this,” Councilman Bobby Roberson said.

The council voted 4-0 (Councilman Larry Beeman was absent) for the ordinance consenting to the agreement between Duke Energy Progress and the North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency that should lower power rates in the 32 NCEMPA cities and towns that sell power. The council also approved other documents related to the agreement.

The $1.2 billion agreement would allow Duke Energy Progress to buy stakes in power-generation facilities now owned, in part, by NCEMPA. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved the agreement. Gov. Pat McCrory signed into law legislation that opened the door for the agreement to move forward.

The new law allows NCEMPA members to issue bonds to refinance approximately $480 million of debt after this purchase is complete. It also allows NCEMPA power agencies to enter into purchase power agreements to replace the electricity previously provided by the generation assets they are selling.

If all NCEMPA members approve the agreement and it is implemented, electric rates for the members’ power customers are expected to decline, up to 20 percent in some cases.

For many years, NCEMPA customers have paid as much as 35 percent more than power customers in other parts of the state for electricity, a result of the power agency carrying nearly $2 billion in debt for around 33 years. In 2010, the movement to do something about that debt took on new life when several NCEMPA members explored withdrawing from NCEMPA. They faced several contractual and fiscal challenges if they did so.

In Washington’s case, about 70 percent of the city’s wholesale electric bill goes toward retiring the city’s share of that debt, according to city officials.