The operation of gas discharge devices involves stabilizing drive stage with a highly dynamic load exhibiting both negative resistance and non-linear behavior. Stabilization is typically accomplished by inserting impedance in series with the plasma load so the combination impedance has a voltage division that is characterized by the intersection of the linear series impedance and the instantaneous voltage-current. This is stable as long as there is an ample excess of voltage driving the plasma/series impedance complex. However providing series impedance that insures stable operation over varying power levels, lamp types/chemistries and changes resulting from aging can lead to inefficient operation as a result of either high voltage/power drops in the series impedance or a high source voltage driving smaller impedance. A method to optimize the series impedance and driving voltage through a dynamic adjustment process of both the voltage and impedance parameters to provide stable gas plasma drive and maximize system efficiency is described.