And he’s going to be charged with unauthorized access too?

If you're on city water that doesn't lose pressure during power outages they also make water powered sump pumps.

Does your use case include random people on the internet accessing these services or is it just for you? If it’s just you and a couple friends and their devices look into Headscale

If the latch is sticking you can try taking the handle off via the other posters instructions and lubricating the latch slide in the door with a graphited lock lube like https://www.agscompany.com/products/lock-ease-graphite-lubricant. If this doesn’t work replace the handle.