A debt that has weighed on Kinston, La Grange and 30 other eastern North Carolina communities for more than four decades has finally been retired.

The North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency (NCEMPA) first issued $3.2 billion in debt in 1982 to buy ownership stakes in power plants, securing long-term electricity for its member cities. That decision gave towns like Kinston more control over power supply, but it also left them with some of the highest electric rates in North Carolina.