Columbia, Mo. ? A utility that put a planned coal plant in rural Missouri on hold last month has now decided to abandon the project.

Associated Electric Cooperative Inc. of Springfield had already received state approval to build a 780-megawatt coal-fired plant in Norborne. The Carroll County town is about 60 miles east of Kansas City. But the company chose to delay the project, citing rising costs and an uncertain regulatory climate.

The co-op notified the state Department of Natural Resources last week that it no longer wants to build the plant. It asked the agency to rescind its permit.