The last 100-150 years, Western civilization has gone through great effort to extend the definition of human to your enemies, which are not inhuman and are not to be tortured or massacred. You may still shoot or bomb someone for some military gain defined by your leaders, but not civilians. This is a fairly recent invention.
Residents of Tokyo or Dresden circa 1945 might quibble with your timing somewhat, and the doctrine of strategic bombing in the 1920s was centered around of idea of knocking out the opponent's civilian support for war. But from the end of WWW2 or so I agree.
I also agree that if the situation isn't desperate he'd better not mess with the community power system. If he's not low on food, water, or something else essential for survival, the power company should give him a map & compass rather than a ride out.
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