Synonymous with playing favorites. In the energy industry, this refers to the practice of granting special treatment to large or desirable customers at the expense of small or undesirable customers. The term can apply to any commercial activity in which product or service providers find it unprofitable to offer equal treatment for all customers.

In the energy industry, small customers often combat cherry-picking by aggregating themselves into a single large customer. An aggregated group of customers can often achieve similar treatment from energy suppliers to that enjoyed by large-scale customers.

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