Clean energy in Northern Colorado has suffered as the industry struggles to compete with cheaper fossil fuels.

One of the hardest-hit: Danish wind turbine giant Vestas, which has manufacturing facilities in Windsor, Brighton and Pueblo. The company announced 2,335 global job cuts in January and warned that an additional 1,600 layoffs could occur nationwide if Congress fails to renew tax breaks for renewable energy.

Efforts to renew the credit, set to expire at the end of the year, were under way but with no assurances of passage.

Solar energy companies were having problems, too, in part caused by overseas competitors who were flooding the market with cheaper goods.

Earlier in the year, Loveland-based Abound Solar said that it temporarily would slash 180 jobs and lay off another 100 temporary workers. It also put off opening a new factory in Indiana and stopped making its first-generation thin-film photovoltaic modules. In late June, the company announced it would file for bankruptcy.

Times seemed better for clean energy during the administration of Gov. Bill Ritter, who signed more than 50 bills dealing with renewable energy during his four years as governor. He helped create thousands