One surprising thing I got from this is that the "Energy Saver" mode used just as much energy, and even more water.

But he said that almost as a throwaway, with almost no explanation of his methodology in determining this, nor discussion about how common this problem might be.

He made a follow-up video in which he explains his testing methodology and what the dishwasher is doing in heavy detail:

https://youtu.be/WnBb3DLlVPwsi=1fW2qg8_Y1SmxkKo

Tl;dr He actually tested each cycle, timed what it did, and measured the energy with a Kill a Watt. He also found the repair manual, which included a diagram of each cycle that matched his tests.

His ultimate finding was that all of the cycles and modifiers did wildly different things, none of which correlated in any way to their name.

Maybe it means energy as in human effort.