Schuylkill commissioners on Wednesday gave a boost to a company that wants to build a natural gas fueled power plant in the western part of the county.

Commissioners agreed to extend a right of way and easement agreement on county-owned land in Foster Township with Canada-based Emberclear and its subsidiary, Future Power PA, to March 31, 2016.Future Power PA wants to build the electric generating plant in Porter Township.To do that, it would build a 20-mile natural gas pipeline to connect the plant to a pipeline that runs through parts of Berks County, near Reading.The 12-inch diameter pipe would run through Tremont, Hegins, Pine Grove, Frailey and Washington townships, parallel to one owned by Sunoco.In a related matter, they also approved a right of way and easement agreement with Future Power to build, operate and maintain a 230kv electric transmission line, also through Foster Township.The project involves towers, foundations and other structures.Also on Wednesday, commissioners approved an addendum to an agreement from June 1, 2011, with Claude A. Lord Shields to serve as a defense lawyer for criminal defendants who have a conflict with the public defender's office.The addendum increases his $1,000 per month payment to $2,000 per month and increases the required hours of work annually from 160 hours to 320 hours.The addendum is retroactive to Jan. 1 and continues on a monthly basis.Either the county or Shields can terminate the agreement by giving 60 days notice.Commissioners also approved, for the Emergency Management Agency, a training agreement with A-T Solutions for $57,298 to provide the task force with bomb squad/swat interoperability training.It will be paid for through the Homeland Security grant program.In other matters, commissioners on Wednesday extended the contract of a Lackawanna County doctor to perform autopsies by one year.The contract, with Mary Pascucci of Sugarloaf, will run through the end of this year.