That's part of the problem. Even a hyper optimized Electron app will consume a non trivial amount of RAM. The other factor is that Electron is accessible to people who don't have experience with developing desktop applications. They make some mistakes with a big impact on the user experience. Additionally, the NPM community isn't exactly known for producing few large profile high quality libraries. Instead you just cobble something together by using thousands of small packages with little to no accountability.

Ah, the good old "you're/they're using it wrong" excuse.