A group of concerned Bay Staters that formed over the winter amid the soaring utility bills is in the early stages of spearheading a statewide ballot initiative to improve transparency and consumer protection in the energy sector.

Citizens Against Eversource, a network that has grown to over 31,000 people, is behind the initiative. Dozens of advocates from the group gathered at South Station in Boston on Saturday to expand their outreach.

New Bedford resident Elijah DeSousa founded the group on Facebook in February when residents all over Massachusetts grappled with sky-high gas bills as the state’s decarbonization agenda combined with a bitterly cold winter.

Speaking to the Herald on Saturday, DeSousa said residents “no longer believe” in state lawmakers, Gov. Maura Healey, Attorney General Andrea Campbell, and the Department of Public Utilities, among other state agencies.

The lack of confidence in state officials has prompted the need for a ballot initiative that DeSousa said would carry a “lot of stipulations.”

One would be a rate lock that would prevent regulators from raising costs above a particular threshold, and another would let consumers know what they are paying for on their bills.

“It’s all about freedom,” DeSousa said. “We believe that everybody has the right to affordable energy. They are taking that from us.”

“I have nothing wrong about green initiatives,” he added, “but the reality is you have to do that in a sustainable way that doesn’t impoverish your citizens.”

The Department of Public Utilities approved rate hikes of upwards of 30% for the state’s primary gas companies, Eversource and National Grid, last fall.

Delivery charges spiking bills through the roof over the winter have been tied to increased funding for state environmental initiatives including Mass Save, a program that supports Massachusetts’ “statutorily-required greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals.”

The Healey administration approved a 25% budget increase for Mass Save last October, accounting for 60% of Eversource’s delivery cost hike, a company spokesman has said.

Plymouth resident Rheanon Romero said she had to pay more than ever on utility bills during the winter even though she claimed she used less gas after making her home more energy efficient.

More than 20,000 have already been collected for the initiative effort which Romero said would essentially be an audit of DPU and Mass Save.

“When you really look into this you can see the mismanagement of the programs, the policies, the people who are supposed to be looking out for us,” Romero said.

Advocates highlighted how the state lawmakers and attorney general need to allow the voter-approved audit of the Legislature for their initiative to be successful if it makes it to the 2026 ballot and receives support.

Healey has responded to the increased prices, rolling out a plan she’s said will eventually cut billions from taxpayer bills and ordering the state DPU to demand utility companies reduce costs by at least 5% for the remainder of the heating season.

“It seems like a bunch of smoking mirrors,” Uxbridge resident Ken Denson told the Herald. “We’re not stupid, we know you guys are doing some shady things.”

A protester with Citizens Against Eversource on Saturday. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)