According to AFCOM’s 2026 State of the Data Center Report, the average data center rack density has officially hit 27 kW per rack – a 69% increase from the previous year. In today’s RCRTech “top story,” below, we look at the issue of “stranded assets” and the risk of overbuilding. What can data center operators and grid operators do to mitigate the scourge of stranded assets or “revenue sinkholes”?

Reuse and repurposing of assets in existing facilities can help foster a more sustainable approach, with organizations like Crusoe and others future-proofing spaces with Digital Renewable Optimization or “circular energy” strategies that reuse energy instead of releasing it as carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

The “shadow” grid of colocated “Behind-the-Meter” projects hold tremendous potential for building out a longer-term, more meaningful utility through private, off-grid natural gas or nuclear plants. It’s an exciting time, as SMRs and Generation IV nuclear reactors will produce vast amounts of clean, high-temperature heat that will run concurrently to hydrogen production plants and seawater desalination facilities.

Modern gas turbines from companies like Siemens Energy and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will burn cleaner hydrogen or biofuels in rapidly evolving supply chains. And, industrial-scale battery systems will enable data centers to redirect private power back into the public grid when necessary.

Read this and other “Top Stories,” below, as well as “What You Need To Know,” for the biggest AI infrastructure stories of the day.

Avoid stranded DC assets: Vacancy is at all-time lows and trillions-of-dollars will be spent on data center builds, but to avoid a trail of stranded assets and revenue sinkholes, operators must follow best practices for adaptive reuse of their assets.

Quantum-safe networking: Quantum-ready networks are the security and communication backbone for AI infrastructure, which Will Townsend of Lonestar Advisory & Research explores with Sean Kinney in today’s “Beyond the Network.”