A website will make switching to renewable energy easier for Wisconsin households, Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton announced this week.

The new online tool will allow residences in Wisconsin to discover how to change their energy consumption with the click of a button.

The website, which redirects users to their county’s utility provider, is part of Wisconsin’s new Office on Energy Independence, an executive body created by Gov. Jim Doyle last April that intends to increase Wisconsin’s use of renewable energy and reduce dependence on foreign and nonrenewable energy sources.

Lawton made the announcement at the Speckled Hen Inn, a bed and breakfast on the outskirts of Madison that has already made a commitment to being environmentally friendly under the Travel Green Wisconsin Project.

She said the idea enables individuals to make a small but meaningful impact on energy consumption.

“Sometimes we feel overwhelmed by confronting a global issue like this one,” Lawton said. “But we need to leverage the power of one, and eventually we can change the world.”

According to Lawton, 2.3 million of Wisconsin’s 2.6 million households have the ability to get their energy from nonrenewable sources, but only 93,000, or less than 4 percent, choose to do so. Wisconsin launched the “25 by 25” plan, a program that aims to have 25 percent of fuels and 25 percent of electricity in the state come from renewable energy sources by 2025.

WE Energies, the largest energy provider in Wisconsin, gives its users the option of switching to renewable energy sources on varying levels relative to their overall energy consumption. Irissol Arce, spokesperson for WE Energies, said WE’s setup was “principally the same” to Lawton’s idea.

Arce said that since renewable energy costs more to produce, the cost is borne by the consumer in the form of a slightly higher premium, which varies depending on the percentage of renewable energy the home receives. The cost of switching to renewable energy is completely incurred by the consumer, and the utility companies are not subsidized for the extra costs.

Lawton estimates the average cost to a consumer who switches to renewable energy is $10 a month.

Patrick Keily, a renewable project manager for WE, said he doesn’t anticipate a large increase in renewable energy consumption as a result of the announcement but said it is possible short-term supply of renewable energy could not match consumer demand.

“I don’t foresee a mass enrollment in the program because of the announcement,” he said. “But a very large increase would cause us to cap the number of renewable energy users.” Seventeen thousand WE customers have already chosen the renewable energy option, according to Keily.

John Murray, spokesperson for Rep. Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, said the announcement was a positive measure in encouraging awareness on the issue.

“We want to encourage the use of renewable energy in the state of Wisconsin,” he said. “This seems like a good idea.”

Lawton, who personally made the switch to renewable energy at her house, said the citizens of the state are ready to accept renewable energy.

“The residents of Wisconsin are not willing to wait any longer,” she said. “For the price of only three lattes, we can change the world.”

The website to switch the source of a house’s energy to renewable sources is http://power.wisconsin.gov under “renewable energy.”