MANKATO, Minn. (AP) - The U.S. Department of Energy says Minnesota is near the top of the list of states in generating wind power.

Nearly 17 percent of the state's energy comes from wind. The department says there are only nine states in the country that have more than 12 percent of power generated by the wind.

Jose Zayas is director of wind and water technology at the DOE. Zayas says that Minnesota is seventh in the nation for gross wind power generation and fourth in the percentage of energy used that comes from wind. Most of the state's wind farms are located across southern Minnesota where the wind potential is highest.

Zayas says in 2006 about 25 percent of wind turbines were made in the U.S. Now, more than 70 percent are manufactured here.

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