Power agency deal holds great promise

It’s a little early to pop the champagne bottles, but surely we can all be forgiven for feeling just a little bubbly about negotiations between the N.C. Eastern Municipal Power Agency and Duke Energy.

If the two entities can reach a deal to sell the municpal power agency’s share of four energy plants to Duke, the result has the potential to rid Rocky Mount and 30 other cities, at last, of the onerous debt that has plagued utilities customers for decades.

In a perfect world, the sale would trigger a welcome break in monthly utilities bills and make Rocky Mount more competitive in the recruitment of industries that consume energy at high levels.

City leaders and legislators sounded cautiously optimistic when news of the talks was released Monday. No one has agreed to buy anything – yet.

But if a deal can be struck and the terms are favorable enough, such a sale would rank as one of the best things to happen to Rocky Mount and much of Eastern North Carolina in at least two decades.

It might be premature to open the champagne at the moment, but it wouldn’t hurt to start looking for a space to put it in the refrigerator.