The article just wanders aimlessly between lies.
Pumped Hydro dams are tiny compared to hydro-power or water dams and are beautiful, the same size as solar or wheat farms. A cool seawater based one in Japan - https://www.google.com/search?q=okinawa+pumped+storage+&tbm=...
A good example of a government doing something that worked is the Australian government which wanted to spend money fighting the global financial crisis so insulated homes. Unfortunately deaths from the scheme, which were at the same rate as normal but became larger in number stop people talking about it much.
This tale of heat pump water heaters stopping a dam is rubbish. Where is the mathematics?
Heat pumps are awesome however, go to Technology Connections, not this to learn about them - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7J52mDjZzto