NorthStar CIS review
Flexible utility billing with configurable rates, meter imports, workflows, and deployment options.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
NorthStar CIS is a customer information and utility billing system for utilities and municipalities. It combines account management, multiple-utility statements, configurable rate structures, meter data imports, guided workflows, automation, reporting, and customer-service capabilities. Utilities can deploy it through the web or on their own servers, giving established organizations a choice between hosted and self-managed operation. Its feature set is suited to teams that need more than basic invoice generation, particularly those managing varied rate rules, usage data, and customer accounts.
Rate management and meter-data handling are central strengths. NorthStar CIS supports tiered and time-of-use rates, while AMR and AMI imports help bring meter information into billing workflows. Billing, usage, and exception reporting support operational review, and guided workflows and automation can structure recurring processes. These capabilities make the product a practical fit for utilities with multiple billing requirements or more involved operational procedures. Organizations seeking only simple billing may not need this breadth.
The surrounding ecosystem is important when evaluating customer-facing services. NorthStar CIS integrates with SilverBlaze, Invoice Cloud, Kubra, Paymentus, electronic billing and payment processors, outage management systems, IVR, and AMI/MDM systems. SilverBlaze can provide account management, usage viewing, online bill payment, payment-history access, paperless billing, and notifications, but those customer portal and payment functions may depend on the connected solution and deployment design. Pricing is handled through contact with sales. Utilities that value deployment flexibility, configurable rates, and ecosystem connectivity should consider NorthStar CIS; organizations wanting transparent self-serve pricing or a narrowly focused billing tool should look elsewhere.
NorthStar CIS pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Supports tiered, time-of-use, and other configurable rate structures
- Imports meter data from AMR and AMI sources
- Offers web and self-hosted deployment options
- Where it doesn't
- Pricing requires contact with sales rather than published plans
- Portal and payment capabilities may depend on connected solutions
- May be more than smaller utilities need for basic billing
NorthStar CIS fact sheet, pricing and score →
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