Austin, Texas (May 29, 2025) – Zpryme, a research-based firm focused on energy and technology, announced last week during ETS25 that Nancy Bui-Thompson, Board Director at SMUD, has been selected as the 2025 ETS Thought Leader of the Year. Bui-Thompson was chosen for the recognition following nominations and voting by ETS alumni and committee members.

ETS, or Energy Thought Summit, is Zpryme’s flagship annual event, bringing together energy and industry visionaries from across the globe to share ideas, challenge the status quo, and spark solutions to some of the world’s most pressing energy problems.

The ETS Thought Leader of the Year award honors an individual within the ETS community who embodies inventive leadership, bold vision, and the commitment to drive meaningful progress in the energy sector.

“I am truly honored to be named the 2025 ETS Thought Leader of the Year—one of the highest distinctions in our industry,” said Nancy Bui-Thompson. “This recognition is a reflection of the collective dedication, innovation, and collaboration across the entire energy community. Over the past 17 years on the SMUD Board, I’ve had the privilege to help drive impactful progress throughout the Sacramento region. My engagement with the Energy Thought Summit has deepened partnerships and strengthened our shared commitment to a more resilient and sustainable energy future. Together, we are rising to meet the challenges of our time with bold, forward-thinking solutions.” 

For more than 75 years, SMUD has delivered reliable energy to Sacramento’s 673,000 customers and is the nation’s sixth largest publicly owned electric utility, governed by a seven-member elected Board of Directors. First elected to the SMUD Board in 2008, Bui-Thompson became the youngest board member in its history and the first Vietnamese American elected official in Sacramento County. Now the longest-serving member of the Board, she represents more than 215,000 constituents across Ward 2, which includes Rancho Cordova, Folsom, Elk Grove, Rancho Murieta, Galt, Wilton and surrounding communities. Currently serving her fifth term, she has held the role of Board President in 2012, 2016, and 2021.

Bui-Thompson’s professional background spans over 25 years as a technology and management leader across the energy, government, and healthcare sectors. She is currently the Chief Information Officer at WellSpace Health, a nonprofit community health center system in Sacramento. Her previous roles include serving as a Director at Health Net and Public Consulting Group, as well as consulting positions at Accenture and Deloitte.

She has represented SMUD and the energy sector on both national and international stages, participating in panels at Energy Thought Summit (2017 to 2025), DistribuTECH, PowerGen International, WE3 Summit and at the German Consulate. Her leadership and impact have earned numerous honors, including being named Outstanding Woman Leader in 2024 by the Conference of Asian American Professionals. She is a recipient of the Sacramento Business Journal’s Women Who Mean Business award and was recognized as a 40 Under 40 honoree. She is a Senior Fellow of the American Leadership Forum (Class XIV, 2010). In 2012, she received the prestigious Marshall Memorial Fellowship from the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

Previous Thought Leader of the Year recipients include Raiford Smith, former Chief Utility Innovation Officer at AES US Utilities (2024); Emeka Anyanwu, CEO at Lincoln Electric System  (2023); Jackie Sargent, former General Manager of Austin Energy (2022); Paul Lau, CEO of SMUD (2021); Calvin G. Butler, now CEO of Exelon (2020); and Gil C. Quiniones, now CEO of ComEd (2019).

This year, for the first time, Zpryme partnered with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Technology Commercialization to host the Spring 2025 EPIC Pitch Competition on the main stage at ETS25. The Energy Program for Innovation Clusters (EPIC) Pitch Competition, administered by the American-Made Program, provides a platform for startups nominated by previous EPIC Prize incubators to showcase their groundbreaking energy technologies. Six finalists were selected to present their innovations to a panel of reviewers and a live audience. Infinion Technology of Palo Alto, CA, secured first place with its AI-powered, high-frequency magnetic sensing technology for real-time grid asset monitoring, earning a $50,000 prize. LabStart, the nominating incubator, received a $25,000 award. Anactisis of Pittsburgh, PA, and Dig Energy of Manchester, NH, were awarded second and third place, respectively, for their innovative solutions in critical mineral recovery and geothermal drilling technology.

This year’s ETS25 event, held at Tech Port Center + Arena in San Antonio, welcomed over 400 utility leaders, technologists, and energy entrepreneurs. Conversations centered around electrification, AI, resilience, and the interdependent future of global energy systems.

For more information on ETS and the Thought Leader of the Year award, visit www.energythoughtsummit.com