White Papers to Improve Your Industry Acumen
Research, written and produced by internal subject matter experts, Clear Path Utility Solutions white papers provide utility practitioners with valuable information on a variety of topics to help them improve their overall business acumen.
Risk Compliance Audits (RCA) – The Essential Role in Utility Management
This white paper was prepared by Clear Path Utility Solutions, with contributions from subject matter experts in utility compliance and asset management. Special thanks to our audit teams and technical advisors for their invaluable insights.

This 10-page white paper explores the significance of Risk Compliance Audits (RCAs) in maintaining system integrity and compliance within the utility industry. Clear Path Utility Solutions’ methodologies, key findings, operational benefits, best practices, and case studies illustrate how RCAs can support proactive maintenance strategies and enhance overall reliability.
Utilities today face heightened operational and regulatory challenges. Factors such as aging infrastructure, environmental pressures and increasingly stringent regulations demand robust strategies for system health management. Traditional audits, which are often tied to specific operational activities or conducted intermittently, fail to provide the holistic, network-wide, view needed to maintain comprehensive compliance and asset integrity.
RCAs bridge this gap by incorporating statistically valid sampling methodologies that can quantify whether your operational QC processes are actually meeting corporate compliance goals. By moving from periodic checks to continuous auditing, utilities can prove how they are mitigating risks over time and show their successes in meeting regulatory and internal standards. This approach not only preserves infrastructure but also reinforces public trust and operational credibility.
BEYOND THE WEST – NEW FRONTIERS IN WILDFIRE MITIGATION
Co-written by Mike Tilly, VP of Business Development, Celerity / Clear Path Utility Solutions and Chris Farley, Vice President Utility Consulting at Celerity

As wildfire risk continues to spread to previously unaffected regions in the United States, utilities are increasingly dealing with damaged and destroyed assets – from poles and towers to substations and transmission lines. These losses are costly and disruptive, severely impacting their ability to maintain reliable service and adding to the challenges of operating in high-risk areas.
States in the West, like California, Oregon, and Washington, are frequently in the news for massive fires. As of October 18, 2024, 6,934 wildfires had burned 1,000,000+ acres in California alone. But now, we’re seeing fires in places where they are extremely rare. In 2023, Canada’s wildfire season burned over 15 million hectares (over 37 million acres). 2023 also brought the Matt’s Creek Fire that burned 11,020 acres in Virginia. And in 2016, a massive fire swept through the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.
In this 12-page white paper, we explore how climate change is affecting wildfires and how organizations can address wildfire mitigation in the most efficient manners possible.