Specifically which point in time are you talking about?
As I said most of the price impact to consumers early on was not price rises as such, but that all the deals were withdrawn that were in effect discounted.
So everyone was being forced to pay variable, or sign a deal at around variable or more, but with more certainty into the future.
The majority of retail customers were paying below the ofgem cap.
The price of gas shot up before Russia invaded, which is semi normal for Dec.
The price of gas again shot up in march before falling back and then starting a long growth up and up.
We aren't paying enough by some amount.
The point of the cap is not to have some exact balancing of 3 months energy, but was to limit the energy companies vulnerable customers from being price gouged. The majority were never expected to see energy costs that were at cap level.
Its supposed to be relatively flat and not over reactionary. Basically it wasn't (and arguably isn't) fit for purpose.
The latest Wholesale Gas Prices in graph and chart form to illustrate the current wholesale gas prices and the trend in market conditions.
www.catalyst-commercial.co.uk
It is fed into the local grid, its literally the point in grid storage to be able to help balance the grid.
Its also why as soon as you go solar/battery you have to find out how much you can be allowed to export due to local grid considerations.
The thing with Eco 7 is its more expensive for peak units and less for off. If you aren't using enough off peak then it ends up costing more.
It was designed for comparatively very heavy off peak vs peak usage. Most people really don't have that profile now (even if they do have elec heating)
My Go for example was costing me more for around a month until I had my solar installed even load shifting into the cheap window I couldnt get my average cost to match the 34p average that go would give you over 24 hours of constant draw.