When Sherry Quirk first met her wife Norma Scogin, the two were lawyers on opposite sides of a case. 

Two utilities companies wanted to merge. One was based in Texas, while the other was based in New Orleans. Quirk represented the New Orleans City Council, while Scogin represented the Texas Public Utilities Commission. 

“It turned out that our clients didn’t agree,” Quirk said, “but we had the chance to see each other enough that we grew to enjoy each other’s company.”

The case resolved itself, and so did their relationship. Quirk and Scogin married in 2004, the same year they built a spacious home on Arlington Road. They spent summer weekends at the house until 2021, when they permanently moved in. 

Quirk is now on the Wareham Planning Board, and Scogin is on the Finance Committee. They give each other legal advice at the dinner table. 

“We have a lot to talk about,” Quirk said. “We’re spending a good amount of time talking about what we’re hearing, different ideas that we have.”

When Quirk joined the Planning Board in March 2022, she brought almost 50 years of energy law experience with her. Tossed into the ongoing battle surrounding solar fields, she has asked tough questions of solar panel manufacturers, especially how they will decommission the panels when they can no longer generate power. 

She hopes to use her energy law background to “balance” the rights of landowners with residents’ concerns about the health of wetlands, forests and aquifers. 

“It’s good to contribute solar energy to the town,” she said, “and if it can do that in a way that sort of preserves the values of the town, that’s a good thing to do.”

Upon joining the Planning Board, Quirk read and researched solar energy as much as she could “to find out what’s at stake.” 

She does not believe that solar and other forms of renewable energy will completely replace fossil fuels in the near future, but supports increased research into the technology. 

“I want development to happen in a way that doesn’t harm the environment or quality of life,” she said.

Electricity, she said, flows like water, like the water of Shell Point Bay that flows outside the large, sunlit windows of her living room. 

When she and Scogin built the house, Quirk told the architect to make it “look like New England” and “let the outdoors in.” 

“This is a place where we can let some of the outside in,” she said, with Bella, her rescue Maltese, by her side. “Many of those same principles can apply elsewhere. I think we’ve got a beautiful environment, beautiful outdoors, so if we could find a way to really capitalize on that, that would be attractive to many people.”

As a member of the Planning Board, Quirk also helps oversee the Redevelopment Authority’s ambitious urban renewal plan, which, among other changes, could increase the maximum height of buildings to 65 feet and increase density downtown.

“I don’t have a negative reaction to that,” Quirk said. “I think that kind of development has been done in other places and done well, and I think as long as the aesthetics can be done well, it can attract a lot of economic activity.” 

Born in New London, Connecticut, Quirk has always appreciated the New England way of life. Before building her home on Arlington Road, she bought a house in Onset because she “couldn’t bear” not spending summers in Massachusetts.

“I think Wareham is a really special town,” she said. “I think it’s a beautiful town and it has a lot to offer. I feel very comfortable here.”

Quirk graduated from Duxbury High School in 1972 and from Mount Holyoke College in 1976. She ultimately decided to go back to school, studying law at American University in Washington, D.C. 

“I have always been interested in the difference that lawyers can make in improving situations,” she said. “I am also aware that they can make things much more difficult and complicated, but I was intrigued by the idea of being someone who could be helpful to other people.” 

She attended night classes while working at an energy law firm during the day, her first exposure to the subject she would build her life around. 

“I have a fairly technical mathematical bent,” she said. “I understand numbers, I understand economic principles. The technology and the numbers part of it really appealed to me.”

After graduating from law school in 1982, Quirk wore many hats. She represented state energy commissions, did legislative work on Capitol Hill and worked for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, then went into private practice. Working for various energy law firms, she represented consumers and intervened to keep energy prices low. 

“It really appealed to what I thought was important,” she said. “Large companies will always be able to get good lawyers, so I don’t need to worry about them so much, but I worried about consumers being well-represented. The little guy always appeals to me.” 

In 2015, Quirk became Executive Vice President and General Counsel of the Tennessee Valley Authority. The TVA was still reeling from a 2008 coal ash slurry spill which resulted in over 30 cancer deaths and cost $1 billion in damage. Quirk said she was there to “turn the page” and “revamp the legal department.”

“I looked at [the legal department] and it was very isolated from the rest of the company,” she said. “It didn’t have much interaction with the businesspeople. I did my best to break down those walls, interact with the business of the utility. I felt very good about what we were able to accomplish.”

Currently, the TVA is transitioning away from coal and toward greener energy sources, including solar. 

Quirk is proud of what she accomplished while working there, but the pressure of the job got to her. 

“You have a sense of momentum in your career, a sense of movement,” she said. “I really felt as if I had gotten to the point that I was very happy with what I’ve done, and I had done a number of successful things.” 

After leaving her job at the TVA in 2021, she moved to Wareham full-time to settle down. 

“I decided to ease up and enjoy life a bit,” she said. “But then I joined the Wareham Planning Board.”