OAKLAND — PG&E’s top boss says the utility can keep monthly bills flat to lower over the next few years — even though the company has asked the state to authorize it to collect more revenue from its ratepayers.

How can PG&E collect more revenue yet anticipate that monthly bills will drift lower?

The company says this is possible because PG&E has begun to rein in costs and improve efficiency to a greater degree than in years gone by.

PG&E, moreover, asserts it has a new attitude about how to serve its customers and deliver electricity, gas, repair and upgrade services to ratepayers.

“This is not the old PG&E,” Poppe said in an interview with this news organization. “This is a turnaround story in the making.”

The utility titan is asking the state Public Utilities Commission to approve a

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