Most NIMBY cities (like NYC and SF) today no longer allow industrial buildings (like for example power plants or refineries) in their city limits. So yes, "how large America is" does end up mattering because electricity and gas and everything else ends up shipped 1-2 hours' drive away.
I'd love to see LA get a GWHr++ energy storage battery inside the city limits. They could trickle charge at will and supply cheap power 24/7. LA could have the cheapest power in the NA this way. It would revitalize manufacturing.
Los Angeles kicked out their manufacturing a couple decades ago. They literally refused to issue electrical permits to upgrade manufacturing lines. After some years the plants became noncompetitive and employers left town.
