The council started a non-public workshop on Monday about what it described as modelling of council finances.
This took longer than expected, a council spokesman said afterwards.
The workshop continued yesterday "and is ongoing", the spokesman said last night.
A further session was planned.
The Otago Daily Times asked if the council was still looking to make a final decision next month and if it was worried about any perception the process had lost its way or the council had become disconnected from the public on the issue.
"We’re working through a process that will result in public deliberations on the Aurora Energy proposal and at this stage we are looking to diary dates in late September," the spokesman said.
"More information will be available at that point.
"We’re entirely comfortable with the time being taken to ensure councillors have all the information needed to make the best possible decision for our community."
East Taieri businessman Andrew Simms, who is opposed to a sale, said there was disquiet about the public being "locked out" of the most recent part of the decision-making process.
He also felt community opinion was hardening towards retaining Aurora.
A public hearing was held in May and feedback to the council was firmly against a sale.
There had since been a mostly public workshop led by council-owned Dunedin City Holdings Ltd (DCHL) and reports were prepared for DCHL by consultants.
Aurora is part of the DCHL group, which recommended a sale of the electricity distribution business.
Mr Simms said recent developments had not softened public sentiment and, if anything, resolve had stiffened.
Dunedin City Council chief executive Sandy Graham talked about this week’s non-public workshop during a council meeting at the end of last month.
Ms Graham said the modelling data could include the potential sale price, which was commercially sensitive.
Assumptions would also be made about water, future rates rises and debt, and the council did not yet have formal positions on such matters, she said.
Council staff had not yet provided advice about the question of whether to sell and this week’s workshop was expected to help with that.
In a statement last week, the council said the workshop would "allow councillors to ask questions of staff, highlight any issues they might want advice on and consider modelling on a range of financial scenarios".
It also signalled Three Waters reform could be discussed, after the government’s announcement about council water companies being able to borrow more money.
This could have implications for the Aurora proposal, because escalating debt for the city council and its companies has been considered among the key factors relevant to a possible sale.
Mr Simms was critical last week of what he described as an ever-evolving process for deciding on the future of Aurora and he said this had been "manipulated by those intent on selling the asset".
The city council rejected any suggestion it was manipulating the process.
