The public meeting held by the Gas Industry Standards Board(GISB) last week to determine whether it should develop standardsfor retail gas and power, as well as wholesale power, was short onsolutions but big on questions.

A key question was whether GISB should be the organization todevelop such standards. “Some believe they [Edison ElectricInstitute] should do it. This will be a big issue if we decide tomove forward” with the retail standards, said David Pfeifer, aformer member of GISB’s executive committee who was at the meetingin Washington D.C.

At the same time, GISB “was very favorably positioned [to setthe standards] because of its proven track record,” noted Pfeifer,who is senior manager of the energy group for Akili, a consultingbusiness.

Another central issue was the type of standards to be developed.Based on “my impression from the questions asked and the commentsmade…..I don’t think there was opposition to the standardsthemselves. No one came out and actually said ‘we don’t need thestandards.’ But the general consensus was what do we mean bystandards,” he said. Should they focus on electronic commerce,business processing or transactions?

“The question again is in the details – how, who, what andwhen.”If GISB is selected to develop the standards, will it thenbecome the EISB for the Energy Industry Standards Board, he asked.GISB, whose principal focus has been on setting standards forwholesale gas, will undergo a “big cultural change” if it’s pickedto do power standards as well. This would require a change in itscertificate and bylaws, not to mention a bigger budget.

A GISB task force will deliver a report to the board ofdirectors at a March 2 meeting that will “determine whether GISBneeds to be involved in this and, if so, how,” said Rae McQuade,executive director of the group.

The Coalition for Uniform Business Rules, a group of mostlyenergy marketers, called on GISB last year to develop and maintainretail gas/electric standards. GISB expanded the scope of thecoalition’s request to include standards for the wholesale powermarket as well. Susan Parker

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