ASA pulls plug on British Gas and Hive green energy ads

Centrica-owned energy giants British Gas and Hive have become the latest firms to feel the wrath of the ad watchdog over misleading claims for the greener energy products as the regulator scours the Internet for rogue ads using its AI-driven active ad monitoring system.

The first, a paid-for Meta ad for British Gas, included an image of a person standing next to a heat pump and superimposed text stated “Go greener and lower your bills. Save up to £546 with a heat pump and our exclusive tariff”.

Text beneath that stated “Switch to a heat pump and start saving With British Gas”. The caption stated “Upgrade to a low-carbon heat pump and you could save up to £546. Savings based on year 1. T&Cs apply”.

The ad, which ran in May 2025, triggered an Advertising Standards Authority investigation, which probed whether the claim “Save up to £546” was misleading and could be substantiated, while also questioning whether the ad omitted material information.

In its defence British Gas insisted the savings claim was presented as an “up to” figure, because it believed a “significant proportion of consumers” would be able to achieve that level of saving, rather than suggesting that all would. Its target market was consumers looking to retrofit their home with an air source heat pump after their gas boiler reached the end of its life.

It explained the £546 saving had been derived from a model that estimated a customer’s energy bill savings after switching from a boiler at the end of its life to an air source heat pump and joining British Gas’s heat pump energy offer tariff rate.

However, British Gas stated that space restrictions in the ad meant that full details explaining how the savings claim was calculated were not included.

But the ASA was having none of it, and pointed out that, using British Gas’s model, just 34% of 194 customers achieved the savings claim in the ad, with some expected to also incur higher bills after insulation.

Banning the ad on five counts – misleading advertising, substantiation, qualification, prices and price comparisons – the ASA went on to warn the company over future activity.

Next in the dock was Centrica Hive, which ran a national press ad featuring an image of a building in a field with solar panels on its roof. The headline stated “Today’s sunshine. Tomorrow’s savings”. Text beneath stated “Shrink your electricity bills by up to 94% in your first year with solar – search solar with Hive” and “T&Cs apply. Savings based on year one”.

Again, the ASA challenged whether the claim “Shrink your electricity bills by up to 94% in your first year with solar” was misleading and could be substantiated; and whether the ad omitted material information.

In its defence, Centrica Hive explained the 94% saving had been derived from a model that estimated a customer’s electricity bill savings after installing a solar panel system.

The model was based on assumptions around pre-and-post installation electricity usage and costs, property location, tariff types – the default tariff subject to the price cap which reflected what the majority of consumers were currently on, and system configuration.

Hive also argued that space restrictions prevented it from including full details.

However, when the ASA ran the figures through the model, it found that just 44% of customers were expected to achieve the 94% savings stated in the ad, with some expected to also incur higher bills after installation.

Again, the watchdog slapped the ad with a ban under the same issues as the British Gas ad – misleading advertising, substantiation, qualification, prices and price comparisons – and also fired off a warning about future activity.