NASHVILLE (AP) — State Sen. Ken Yager is withdrawing from consideration for the board of the Tennessee Valley Authority.

The Kingston Republican said in a Monday letter to Tennessee U.S. Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker that he has to give priority to his work in the General Assembly, where he is the chairman of the Joint Fiscal Review Committee and the Senate State and Local Government Committee.

Yager's expected nomination had raised questions about whether he could serve as both a sitting state lawmaker and on the board of the nation's largest public utility. The senator has said he was advised he could do both but did not address the question in his letter.

The TVA serves more than 9 million people in parts of seven southeastern states.