State energy regulators have rejected Consumers Energy’s request to exit contracts in the coming months that would have resulted in the closure of two wood-fired biomass plants in Cadillac and the northeastern Lower Peninsula. The Michigan Public Service Commission in two separate cases rejected Consumers’ request to cancel contracts by the end of May involving power purchases from third-party owned biomass plants in Cadillac and in Lincoln in Alcona County. The plants were set to close by the end of May, as Crain’s Grand Rapids Business previously reported. The current contracts are set to expire in 2027 and 2028. …However, advocates for the biomass and timber industries have long argued that Michigan’s six biomass power plants play a key role in providing baseload power as well as a market for forest products that are otherwise left behind during the timber process.