Inland Power & Light Co., the Spokane-based electric cooperative, says it's buying a former Western States Equipment Co. dealership property located six miles north of Colfax, along U.S. 195, for an undisclosed sum and plans to use it as a service center and warehouse.

The transaction, which is expected to be completed soon, includes the 6,000-square-foot dealership building and about four acres of land, the co-op says.

Kris Mikkelsen, Inland Power's CEO, says the cooperative plans to close two smaller warehouses, one about two miles north of Colfax and the other in St. John, Wash., about 24 miles to the northwest, and to consolidate those operations in the former Western States facility.

Inland Power's current warehouse in Colfax has about 1,300 square feet of floor space, and the one in St. John is a 3,400-square-foot structure. The co-op uses the facilities to store equipment and supplies, and also as a base of operation for some work crews. Several crews that are based at those warehouses will relocate to the former Western States building, and the vacated facilities will be sold, Mikkelsen says.

That consolidation will reduce to six the number of staffed warehouses Inland Power operates across the 13-county Inland Northwest area it serves.

Mikkelsen says Inland Power historically has operated small, two-person warehouses, but that type of system no longer is as efficient as it once was, so it has consolidated a number of them over a period of years and, "This is just another step in that strategic direction."

The co-op's planned larger facility near Colfax will provide support services to about 4,400 of its member-customers located in the southern part of its system. In all, Inland Power, which is the state's largest electric co-op, has more than 37,000 member-customers.

Western States, based in Meridian, Idaho, is the authorized Caterpillar dealer for Eastern Washington, eastern Oregon, Idaho, western Montana, and part of Wyoming. It vacated the facility near Colfax about three and a half years ago.