"why doesn't the US go after these hackers and designate targeting civilian infrastructure as a crime?"

To which the response was essentially "The US would like to reserve those types of cyber attacks for their own uses"

These quotes are very loose, I read it last year, but essentially, the US didn't make a stink about older grid attacks in order to save face when the US does it.

Additionally, much of VZ's difficulty was due to the massive sanctions against the nation. Sanctions are effectively attacks on a nation's citizens to pressure the government. Disabling power infrastructure is absolutely in-line with the motives of sanctions and embargos.