Cory Strang handed NTPC leadership on full-time basis

Cory Strang is the NWT Power Corporation’s new president and chief executive, filling a vacancy created by the departure of Noel Voykin in May.

Strang, the power corporation’s chief financial officer at the time, has been the acting president for the six months following Voykin’s departure. His permanent appointment to the role was announced last week.

He is the first NWT-born president of the power corporation, having grown up in Hay River.

Infrastructure minister Diane Archie said in a news release that Strang’s “qualifications and experience are well-suited for the important next steps that this government and NTPC will take in the comings months to meet the challenges and demands of providing safe, reliable power to our communities.”

Strang, who is Métis, joined the power corporation in 1999. He acquired responsibility for developing the corporation’s annual operations and maintenance budget in 2016 and became chief financial officer in 2020.

A biography on the power corporation’s website states Strang is an executive member of the Polar Pond Hockey Association and was a technical delegate at the 2018 Arctic Winter Games in Hay River and Fort Smith.

His predecessor in the role, Voykin, was the power corporation’s president for a little over two years.

That period included a ransomware attack on the corporation and a series of costly hydro system shutdowns.

The main challenge facing the power corporation is maintaining and, where possible, upgrading a network of infrastructure that is decades old and pushing the limits of its useful life.

Last year, the territorial government said a 20-year plan to fix that infrastructure was being put in place.