Key Takeaways:
- Cory Strang began working for Northwest Territories Power Corporation (NTPC) as a summer intern in 1998.
- He was named president or CEO of the company last month.
“I didn’t think I’d be here this long, but I love the North, and the company’s been good to me,” he told Loren McGinnis, host of CBC North’s The Trailbreaker.
Strang, a Métis, is the first northern president of the power corporation, a subsidiary of NT Hydro, which the Northwest Territories government owns.
Strang was born in Hay River and attended the University of Alberta before returning home. In May, he was named acting president and CEO for the first time. The Northwest Territories government is very concerned about climate change.
It’s focused on lowering our carbon footprint and lowering the amount of diesel we need to bring into the North, which is a challenge because we know it’s -40 in the winter, and there’s not a lot of sun for renewables.
We’re also working with Infrastructure Canada to find funding to improve and strengthen the system while being affordable for our customers because renewable energy isn’t cheap.
It’s expensive, and we have to make sure we can keep the lights on when it’s -45 degrees outside. The majority of our energy is generated by hydro. We use about 20 million liters of fuel per year, but that’s still 20 million liters of power that needs to be brought into our communities, so we’re looking at different types of generation to bridge that gap, including more liquid natural gas, which we’re currently using in Inuvik.
Inuvik is also considering a wind turbine/battery. In addition, we are collaborating with Indigenous governments and partnerships to increase some of their solar or wind generation in the community. We’re thoroughly investigating all aspects of it to reduce our carbon footprint.
Source: CBC News
Get Northwest Territories and Canada’s top News, Latest News, and other news of the world only at the most trustable news website of Canada nwweek.com
