Tasmania's hydro dam levels have fallen further and the timeline for fixing the broken Bass Strait electricity cable has been pushed back, but the state government insists the island's lights will stay on.
Dam levels on Tuesday were at 13.9 per cent, down from 14.6 per cent a week earlier.
Hydro Tasmania has warned that when capacity hits 6.5 per cent, power generation will have to stop.
The update coincided with news that the state's electricity supply from mainland Australia will be offline until mid-June after operators found more damage to the Bass Strait seabed cable.
A mystery problem, pinpointed to an area some 90km from the Tasmanian coast, sparked the outage in December and repair work involved the removal of a section of cable.
But after the portion was removed, further water damage was found in remaining sections - which will mean more extensive repairs and a push back of the previous late-May restoration date, operators said on Tuesday.
"Basslink has advised key stakeholders to prepare for a mid-June return-to-service date, to take into account likely contingencies such as poor weather," the company said in a statement.
Energy Minister Matthew Groom said the announcement should be viewed as good news.
"It confirms that the process for repair from this point is clearly understood," he said.
With record low rainfall impacting dam levels and the cable out of order, the Liberal government has spent scores of millions of dollars hiring and installing diesel generators to keep up with energy demand.
"Until we know that Basslink is back up and operating we have got an energy plan that's being implemented to deal with circumstances where that remains offline," Mr Groom said.
Labor, the Greens and unions fear there will be a shortage of supply if hydro generation goes offline, and the groups have called for electricity rationing.
The government has refused to introduce such measures, but has encouraged "sensible and prudent" energy use.
Opposition spokesman Scott Bacon wants the government to reveal projections for how low dam levels are expected to fall.
Mr Groom said he is seeking advice and will pass on the news immediately.
Basslink continues to investigate what sparked the original problem with the cable.
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