The global market for electricity utility billing and customer information systems software and services will grow to about $4 billion in 2017, compared with $2.3 billion last year, according to Pike Research. The worldwide deployment of smart meters will help drive that growth, the market research firm says. "Large U.S. investor-owned utilities looking to develop new revenue streams, European energy retailers working in a deregulated market, and utilities in the developing world seeking to improve revenue collection and energy auditing are all taking a new look at their requirements for billing and CIS," Pike's Eric Woods said.