The Gas Industry Standards Board (GISB) will facilitate an industry-wide forum Tuesday and Wednesday (Aug. 14-15) at the Energy Department in Washington, DC for discussion of a new standards organization to develop wholesale and retail standards for natural gas and electricity.

Representatives of companies and trade associations, as well as interested individuals are invited to attend. Registration is required. The deadline to register as well as the deadline for comments ended Aug. 9. The meeting, and one held last year, are the outgrowth of a request by the Coalition for Uniform Business Rules that GISB develop both gas and electric retail standards.

GISB’s was formed in 1994 to develop wholesale natural gas standards for electronic commerce.

A task force of GISB’s board of directors has conducted extensive talks with industry representatives and developed two proposed organizational models, known as “strawmen.” The latest draft of the models can be found at www.gisb.org.

Robert Kripowicz, acting assistant secretary for fossil energy, will open the session at DOE’s Forrestal Building , 1000 Independence Ave. SW, at 1 p.m. Tuesday (Aug. 14). That session will run until 5 p.m. Wednesday’s session will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

GISB Board of Directors Chairman William Boswell, who is also assistant secretary of Dominion, said “there is strong support for a single organization that would set standards for retail and wholesale electricity and natural gas transactions. We have made excellent progress in our discussions with a wide range of industry participants.”

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