WEPCO hires a pro to extinguish PR fires. (Wisconsin Electric Power Co Communications and Community Relations VP Rick White)

Colleagues describe Rick White as a friendly bear of a man, Smokey not Yogi.

Wisconsin Electric Power Co. brought White to Milwaukee from Carolina Power & Light Co. (CPL), Raleigh, N.C, to put out fires. White's title is vice president of communications and community relations, the first WEPCO corporate officer solely dedicated to that position since 1994.

With a failed merger still smoldering in some employee circles and uncertainties surrounding electricity reliability and deregulation flare-ups, Wisconsin Electric needed a new perspective from outside the organization.

"Rick is the breath of fresh air we needed," said David Porter, a senior vice president of Wisconsin Electric, a public utility subsidiary of Wisconsin Energy Corp. "Now he needs to share his enthusiasm with the work force."

Wisconsin Electric's last full-time …