Nov. 5--WEST PALM BEACH -- Former Attorney General Bob Butterworth's first stint with Florida Power & Light Co. was in 1966, when as a fresh University of Florida graduate, he spent six months in the company's executive training program.

"I decided I did not want to be an accountant, and went to law school," Butterworth said Wednesday in a meeting at The Palm Beach Post.

This time around, he's being paid $500 an hour to tell the company the mistakes it made in its quest for a $1.2 billion rate increase. The Public Service Commission is scheduled to vote on the proposal Jan. 13.

"My role is to find out what went wrong," said Butterworth, a member of a Fort Lauderdale law firm. "Things were done that hurt the reputation of the utility and the PSC."

Those things include such conflicts of interest as a PSC staffer attending a party at an FPL executive's Palm Beach Gardens home and secret Blackberry messages exchanged by regulators and their staff and FPL.

"To the public, perception is reality," Butterworth said, acknowledging FPL has "lost a lot in the public image department."

Butterworth said the company's spin on the 30 percent rate increase -- that bills would drop thanks to lower fuel prices -- did not sit well.

The utility announced Oct. 29 that it asked Butterworth to provide advice. Butterworth said he met with FPL President Armando Olivera in West Palm Beach a few weeks ago, and Olivera told him he was very concerned with FPL's image.

Butterworth stressed that while he plans to meet with groups from hospitals to business and industry to consumers, his job is not to negotiate a settlement.

He is known for straightening out everything from the state motor vehicle agency in the 1980s to the Florida Department of Children and Families in recent years. He said he is not out to rebuild FPL's image.

Butterworth said he initially expressed his concerns to Eric Eikenberg, who just left a post as Gov. Charlie Crist's chief of staff. He also contacted another former attorney general, Jim Smith, whose Tallahassee law firm lobbies for FPL. Smith's law partner Brian Ballard set up a meeting with Olivera at Ballard's West Palm Beach office.

"The public wants and deserves a level playing field for regulated utilities and for intervenors," Butterworth said. "I am very concerned about Florida. That's my whole life."

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