The goal is to come up with products DoD can use to keep the power on at military bases.

Judy Marks, the head of Siemens' U.S. federal business unit, joined the Federal Drive to explain what exactly micro-grid management is and how the partnership will work. Plus, she discussed how the project strengthens the firms' positions as federal contractors.

As it turns out, military bases, both domestically and around the world, require heightened security for their power sources, leading to what Marks' called energy "islanding."

Marks said the microgrid management solution offered by the two companies would incorporate both energy security and energy efficiency.