We have demonstrated that the reproducibility of electron beam pulses generated by a high power, cold cathode glow discharge is greatly improved by adding a small continuous keep-alive discharge current. A current of the order of 200 &mgr;A was found to limit the shot to shot current variation to within 1.5&percent;. This stabilization in turn reduces by an order of magnitude the fluctuations of the energy density deposited on the target, demonstrating a reliable energy source for surface treatment. ©1997 American Institute of Physics.