Development planners have designated the Cordillera region as a major energy producer. If all its hydropower sources were to be tapped, they would be able to supply 4,306 megawatts or 65% of the energy requirements of the Luzon Grid of the National Power Corporation (NPC).

The NPC aims to install hydropower facilities of various sizes on Cordillera rivers. These may be classified in two ways:

Large and small dams. The International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD), classifies dams according to physical size. Any dam which has a height of 15 meters or more from its foundation, or is between 5 to 15 meters high but has a reservoir volume of more than 3 million cubic meters, is considered large.

Mega, big, small, mini, and micro-hydros. The power industry classifies dams and other water diversion facilities built for hydropower generation according to the amount of current they can supply. They range from mega-hydros that generate more than 50 megawatts, to micro-hydros that generate only up to one megawatt of electricity.

The NPC's Luzon Grid derive most of its power from large dams classified as mega-hydros. Three of these dams tap Cordillera rivers for hydropower: the Ambuclao, Binga, and Magat power plants. But only the Magat plant, which generates 360 megawatts, is in continuous operation. Because of river and reservoir siltation, the Ambuclao plant (which used to generate 75 megawatts) no longer runs. The sole function of the Ambuclao dam today is to augment the water supply for the Binga plant. But even the Binga plant, which used to generate 100 megawatts, can only be run intermittently.

The Binga reservoir is also badly silted up. The NPC has launched a hundred-million peso rehabilitation program for Binga over a 15-year period, but its Chinese contractor has yet to achieve anything.

Aside from the three large dams, there are 12 run-of-the-river mini-hydros in the region. All are located in Benguet. They are privately operated but supply the Benguet Electric Cooperative, either directly or through the NPC.

Two major hydroelectricity generation projects have recently been completed: the Casecnan project and the San Roque Dam project. #