Any form of storage will have poor efficiency compared to primary production, particularly pumped water. We're talking about under 50% efficiency.
Moreover, you need an absolute MASSIVE amount of storage to make intermittent sources like solar and wind equivalent to baseload power.
In winter months, solar in New York will produce less than 5% what the same facility will produce in the summer. Shorter days, lower sun, snow, leaves, clouds... all contribute to this.
One cloudy winter and the entire state would be without power - for weeks. It would be catastrophic.
The size of the water reservoir needed to replace plants like Indian Point plant don't exist on the East coast. You would need to flood absolutely massive areas of land.
Nuclear isn't an option. It's a necessity.
