  Transactive energy systems (TES) are emerging as a transformative solution
for the problems that distribution system operators face due to an increase in
the use of distributed energy resources and rapid growth in scalability of
managing active distribution system (ADS). On the one hand, these changes pose
a decentralized power system control problem, requiring strategic control to
maintain reliability and resiliency for the community and for the utility. On
the other hand, they require robust financial markets while allowing
participation from diverse prosumers. To support the computing and flexibility
requirements of TES while preserving privacy and security, distributed software
platforms are required. In this paper, we enable the study and analysis of
security concerns by developing Transactive Energy Security Simulation Testbed
(TESST), a TES testbed for simulating various cyber attacks. In this work, the
testbed is used for TES simulation with centralized clearing market,
highlighting weaknesses in a centralized system. Additionally, we present a
blockchain enabled decentralized market solution supported by distributed
computing for TES, which on one hand can alleviate some of the problems that we
identify, but on the other hand, may introduce newer issues. Future study of
these differing paradigms is necessary and will continue as we develop our
security simulation testbed.
