This paper introduces the electronic ballast for high pressure sodium (HPS) lamps which provides power regulation during the whole lamp life without using a closed-loop power control system, in spite of large variations of lamp characteristics resulting from lamp aging. The structure of the electronic ballast and the parameters of HPS lamps are described. A mathematical model for the ballast is developed and used for the design and analysis of the ballast. A design procedure is presented to design the ballast which provides intrinsic power regulation over the whole lamp life. To improve the technical specifications of the ballast, the practical and standard constraints are considered in the design. According to the design procedure, an electronic ballast for 250-W HPS lamps is designed. All theoretical analyses are verified with the help of a semi-industrial experimental setup. The results validate that the designed ballast provides power regulation during the whole lamp life.