An industry-wide meeting to discuss whether the Gas IndustryStandards Board (GISB) should develop standards for retail andwholesale power, as well as retail natural gas, has beenre-scheduled for Feb. 14 in Washington D.C.

Originally slated for Jan. 26, the meeting was canceled due asnowstorm that ambushed the East Coast and caused a two-dayshutdown of the federal government. The meeting will be held at theDepartment of Energy’s Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Ave.SW, and will run from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Representatives of companiesand trade associations in the gas and electric industries areinvited to attend.

The meeting will address whether GISB, whose principal focus hasbeen on developing wholesale gas standards for electronic commerce,should branch out into standards for retail gas and retail andwholesale electricity. GISB called the meeting after the Coalitionfor Uniform Business Rules (CUBR), a group of mostly energymarketers, asked it to develop and maintain retail gas/electricstandards. GISB expanded the scope of the coalition’s request toinclude the wholesale power market as well.

The CUBR’s proposal would change the direction of GISB becauseit would require the standards-setting organization to plunge intothe electricity market for the first time, a GISB task force saidlast year.

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