BRIGHTON, Colo. >> Wind energy generated a record 191 megawatt-hours of electricity last year, enough for 17.5 million homes, an industry group said last week.

The American Wind Energy Association said wind produced 4.7 percent of the nation’s electricity in 2015. Coal generated 33 percent and natural gas slightly less than that, the association said.

The association released the statistics at a Vestas Wind Systems turbine plant in Brighton, Colo., near Denver.

Demand for wind energy is also driving up employment. The industry employed the equivalent of 88,000 full-time workers last year, up 20 percent in a year, the report said.

Chris Brown, president of Vestas America, said it can be difficult to find qualified workers.

Starting pay for wind technicians is about $25 an hour, said Auston Van Slyke, wind energy technology director for Ecotech Institute in Aurora, Colo., a private school that trains workers for the renewable-energy industry.

Texas remains No. 1 for wind energy, while Iowa is second. Iowa generated more than 30 percent of its electricity from wind last year, a record for any state, the report said.