Robert and Kathleen Merkle had no idea their purchase of a Salt River Project (SRP) ENERGY STAR Home in Queen Creek would make the history books.

The Merkleys, who knew the importance of saving energy, were the 10,000th family to purchase an SRP ENERGY STAR Home. SRP held a celebration at the Merkleys home to commemorate the milestone.

“It’s a solid home and the energy features are great," Robert Merkley said. "The build quality is excellent and Fulton Homes has done a remarkable job with customer satisfaction. ... We’ve only been here for three months, but the cost savings are pretty remarkable. We are saving about 25 percent off our previous energy bills.”

“I’ve calculated we are saving about $50 per month right now on our electric bill. The home is just that well insulated,” Merkley said. “If we save $600 per year on energy costs, it will definitely add up.”

SRP was recently awarded the 2016 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year for Sustained Excellence and the ENERGY STAR Certified Homes Market Leader.

“For more than five decades, SRP has worked with local homebuilders to offer multiple new home programs,” Dan Dreiling, SRP director of market research and customer programs, said. “Our most recent version of the program, the SRP ENERGY STAR Homes program, has been in the market for nearly four years and has now certified more than 10,000 energy-efficient homes in our service territory. That’s an energy savings of more than 120 million kilowatt hours for our customers, enough energy to power an additional 6,000 homes for an entire year.”