Home-heating costs are expected to be lower this winter than last year’s unusual freeze, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Tuesday.

Overall, electricity expenditures are projected to drop 2 percent, the EIA said. Natural gas costs will drop 5 percent. Home heating oil, which is used in the Northeast, will decrease 15 percent. Propane prices are projected to fall 27 percent, buoyed by a 17 percent increase in inventories compared with the previous year.