There is a standoff occurring over the cost of mitigating last year’s energy crisis in Tasmania.

The failure of the undersea Basslink cable in December 2015 was compounded by record low Hydro Tasmania dam levels, which eventually led to about $180 million being spent to secure Tasmania's power supply.

The response included shipping in 100 back-up diesel generators.

The state-owned Hydro Tasmania has begun to claw back some of that money by withholding the fee it pays Basslink each month, but Basslink says the cause of the cable fault is still unknown, so it is not liable to pay compensation.

Energy analyst Marc White says the situation has led to consumers paying more for energy.

“Hydro Tasmania has had to cover those costs, which obviously flows onto government dividends, but also to some we expect that consumers have been burdened by higher wholesale costs,” he told the ABC.

The state’s new Energy Minister, Guy Barnett, says it is out of his hands.

“That is a matter for Hydro and Basslink, those discussions are ongoing,” he said.

“It is an important matter and I am looking forward to ongoing monitoring of that matter.

“What is of utmost importance is reliability of supply for Tasmanians — the dams will not be drained on my watch.”

Hydro Tasmania will not say how much it has recouped from Basslink, but denies the standoff will affect Tasmanian energy security or prices.

Mr White said legal action against Basslink would be unlikely.

“We would have expected that an action might have been launched 12 months ago, but given there hasn't been any announcements show it is unlikely at this stage,” he said.