A writing gas light system has a gas tube with a first end and a second end. A first cathode is attached to a first end of the gas tube and a second cathode is attached to a second end of the gas tube. An isolated conductor runs along a length of the gas tube and is electrically attached to the second cathode. A light ballast is coupled to the first cathode and to the isolated conductor. In one embodiment, the system has a digitally controlled ballast. The gas discharge ballast has an output applied to the gas tube whose energy can be adjusted. The system has a balanced center tap transformer. The secondary of the transformer is tied to ground through a ground fault detection circuit.