Washington’s City Council is scheduled to take action Monday night that should result in lower electric rates for city power customers later this year.

The council, according to its agenda for Monday’s meeting, is expected to discuss (and possibly approve) an 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 will consider approving 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.

Washington’s City Council wants to wait until the assets sale is completed so it can get a better idea of how the deal will affect the wholesale rates the city pays to purchase power. That wholesale rate will be factor in determining how much the city could reduce the retail rates it charges city power customers.

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.

The council meets at 5:30 p.m. Monday in the Council Chambers in the Municipal Building, 102 E. Second St. To view the council’s agenda for a specific meeting, visit the city’s web­site at www.washingtonnc.gov, click “Government” then “City Council” heading, then click “Meeting Agendas” on the menu to the right. Then click on the date for the appropriate agenda.