New Utility Billing System Delayed Again, Costs Fort Collins Extra $750K
Fort Collins will spend an additional $750,000 to keep its outdated utility billing systems running after pushing back the launch of a long-awaited replacement system to May 2026, seven months later than originally planned.
City officials announced the delay during an October 14 budget work session, marking the latest setback in a project that council members acknowledged has been under discussion throughout their entire tenure. The new Vertex One system was originally scheduled to go live in October 2025.
The additional funding will cover costs to maintain legacy billing systems that Fort Collins utilities currently use to bill customers for electric, water, wastewater and stormwater services. City officials emphasized the delay does not increase the cost of the new software itself or affect customer billing operations.
"This is not an increase in software costs or project costs for our new system," said Joe Wimmer, utilities finance team member. "This is for us to continue with our legacy systems that we're using today."
The city refers to the billing system replacement initiative internally as "Project Phoenix." The new platform is called Vertex One.
Years-Long Effort to Replace Aging Systems
Fort Collins has struggled for years to modernize its utility billing infrastructure. The city initiated a billing system replacement in 2020 but encountered substantial delays that led to a legal dispute and contract termination with its initial vendor, Open International, according to case documentation.
That legal battle stretched the project beyond its anticipated timeline of two to two and a half years, with costs escalating due to delays and legal expenses. A settlement was reached in 2024, with Fort Collins receiving $21 million that was split among the city's four main utility funds.
Municipal utility billing system replacements typically take 18 months to three years for full implementation, with budgets ranging from $5 million to $20 million depending on complexity and the number of services integrated, according to examples from Colorado and neighboring states.
Legacy utility billing systems are older software platforms, often more than 10 years old, used by municipalities to manage customer accounts, meter data, billing, payments and rate calculations. These systems are frequently on-premises installations built on outdated programming languages or hardware that become increasingly incompatible with modern integration and security standards.
The typical operational lifespan for utility billing systems is 10 to 20 years, with most municipalities replacing core billing platforms after 12 to 15 years due to mounting maintenance costs and regulatory challenges, according to municipal IT guidance.
Risks of Operating Outdated Infrastructure
Operating outdated billing systems creates multiple risks for cities. Technical support costs for legacy systems often rise 10 to 20 percent annually as vendors phase out support or as replacement parts and expertise become scarce.
Security vulnerabilities pose a critical concern. Outdated systems may fail to meet current cybersecurity standards, exposing customer data to breaches. This is particularly problematic for municipalities that hold personally identifiable information and payment data for tens of thousands of residents.
Legacy billing systems also struggle to support modern requirements including energy efficiency programs, flexible rate offerings, customer self-service portals and mobile device access. The systems often use proprietary or outdated data formats, complicating integration with newer finance, meter reading or customer support applications.
As hardware and software ages, the risk of prolonged system outages increases, threatening revenue collection and customer trust. Cities also face regulatory risk when billing systems cannot comply with updated utility billing and data privacy regulations.
Colorado Communities Navigate Similar Transitions
Several Colorado municipalities have completed or are pursuing similar billing system upgrades. Fort Collins-Loveland Water District announced completion of its new billing system in October 2025, indicating a project timeline of roughly two to three years based on public transition notices.
Aurora Water completed a Vertex One system launch in 2022 after approximately two and a half years, with city budget documents describing a project cost of about $10 million plus an additional $1 million to $2 million for integration and user training, according to city council records.
Denver Water upgraded to a modern customer information system with Vertex One identified in board meeting minutes as a system-of-record contributor. The process extended over two years with budget authorization of $12 million to $15 million over two phases, according to municipal budget and procurement records from 2021 through 2023.
Colorado Springs Utilities initiated a major billing system modernization project in 2023 with Vertex One as the primary vendor. Initial planning called for 18 to 24 months and a total budget of $16 million, according to city council and procurement records.
New System Features Modern Capabilities
The Vertex One platform is a cloud-based customer information system designed for electric, water and multi-service municipal utilities. The system offers multiservice support for water, electric, gas, environmental and broadband services along with modern customer portals providing online payment options, detailed usage analytics and mobile access.
The platform is designed for easier connection with finance, meter-to-cash and work order management systems. It is regularly updated to ensure city utility operations meet state and federal requirements around billing and data protection.
Typical implementation timelines for medium to large cities range from 18 to 30 months, with upfront planning and data migration commonly responsible for schedule variation. All-in project costs including licensing, migration, training and support during initial operations typically range from $8 million to $20 million for cities of 100,000 to 500,000 residents.
Common implementation challenges include legacy data migration, customization to local rate structures, and integration with other municipal platforms. Municipal records consistently show that clear requirements gathering and executive governance reduce both delays and cost overruns.
Fort Collins City Council is scheduled to consider budget appropriations for the additional legacy system funding at its November 3 meeting.
Contact Fort Collins Utilities for additional information about the billing system project.