Performance & battery · Battery, power and Low Power Mode
Will Storage Studio show up as using significant energy?
Short answer: It's designed not to: Storage Studio pauses animations in Low Power Mode, lets macOS batch its timers, and keeps background work small on battery. It may appear briefly during a large move or backup you started.
It's designed to stay off that list. The usual reason an app appears there is continuous redrawing or frequent wake-ups, so Storage Studio pauses its continuous animations whenever Low Power Mode is on, lets macOS group its timers with other work, and keeps its background budget small on battery.
It can briefly appear while it's doing something you asked for — moving a large folder, or a backup you started — because that's real disk and processor work. Once the job ends, it drops back.
If you see it there while you aren't using it, check what it's doing in Job Insights, and consider Light mode for long stretches on battery.