Topeka ? Kansas regulators on Friday approved Kansas City Power & Light’s $1.3 billion energy plan, clearing the last major obstacle for the company to build a second coal-fired plant in northwest Missouri.

The Kansas Corporation Commission voted unanimously for the plan, which includes building the $734 million Iatan II plant about 25 miles northwest of Kansas City, Mo., in Weston.

The plant, which has been opposed by environmental groups, is considered the centerpiece for parent company Great Plains Energy Inc.’s long-range regulatory plan.

“The parties to this docket have struggled with striking the appropriate balance between efficiency, reliability and environmental impact,” the commission wrote in its order approving the plan. “Clearly, some with different priorities may disagree with the regulatory plan proposed by KCP&L; however, the commission finds that concerns about the proposal do not warrant rejection of the agreement.”

KCP&L officials welcomed the decision.

The plan also calls for $130 million to build 100 megawatts of wind-generated power and a promise to invest in another 100 megawatts of wind power in the future, $271 million to reduce pollution at the company’s existing power plants in Weston and Kansas and $84 million to build additional transmission and distribution facilities and increase energy efficiency.

The Missouri Public Service Commission approved the plan last month. Kansas had to give its approval because Kansas customers will help pay for the plan.

Rates will likely rise between 15 percent and 20 percent over the five-year life of the plan with Kansas regulators receiving the first request to raise rates by Feb. 1. Rates in Missouri are capped until 2007.