The sea ice pressure ridging process is modeled using a two-dimensional particle simulation technique. In this model, blocks are broken from an intact sheet of relatively thin lead ice driven against a thick, multilayer floe at a constant speed. The blocks of ice rubble accumulate to form the ridge sail and keel. The energy consumed in ridge growth, including dissipation, is explicitly calculated. A series of numerical experiments are performed to establish the dependence of the energetics on the thickness of the ice sheet and the friction between blocks. The results suggest that the total energy required to create a pressure ridge is an order of magnitude greater than the potential energy in the ridge structure. A typical sea ice cover in the polar regions contains a variety of ice thicknesses that evolve in response to both dynamic and thermodynamic forcing. The variable thickness of the ice cover is created by deformation, which simultaneously causes formation of thick ice through ridge building and thin ice through lead creation. Since the energy expended in deformation is largely determined by the ridging process, an understanding of the energetics of pressure ridging is critical in the determination of ice strength on a geophysical scale.